Revenge of the Titans 3: Skirmish at Saturn's Land
by Tenkai Nankobo 101
Summary: Return to your favorite world as the son of Kronos and Annabeth set out with two children of Kronos' Roman ego Saturn to investigate why the Titans attacked the home of these mysterious children known as Saturn's Land in the Appalachian Mountains.
1. Title Page and Author's Note

Revenge of the Titans

The Skirmish at Saturn's Land

By

Christopher Cleveland

Table of Contents

Thalia: Meeting the children of Saturn (an amazing incident)

Percy: Learning more about Saturn's Land and our guests

Annabeth: Chiron's secret mission for me and farewell party

Gabriel: My decision to help an old friend

Gabriel: Letting Brian lead the way to Saturn's Land and an old foe

Annabeth: Gabriel reveals his greatest weapon to me

Annabeth: Accidentally separating from Gabriel and Brian

Annabeth: Allie reluctantly reveals her true colors to me before we reunite with the group

Gabriel: Epimetheus reveals his ultimate plan before reviving Saturn

Gabriel: One of the greatest sacrifices I ever witnessed in my life

Thalia: Artemis has a new mission for the recovered Hunters and me

Percy: Gabriel and Annabeth's return to Camp and Nico's return to consciousness

Annabeth: Gabriel reveals his greatest weapon to me

**A/N: **First of all, I'd like very much to apologize for how long it has taken me to even publish anything related to the Revenge of the Titans series. I have been busy with school and other aspects of my life and I will be busy still. So I will attempt to add to this story until I am finished with it as much as a possible. The franchise used for this story is of course, not mine and belongs to Rick Riordan the creator of the _Percy Jackson and The Olympians_ series, _The Kane Chronicles_, and _The Heroes of Olympus_.


	2. Thalia: Meeting the Children of Saturn

Thalia: Meeting the children of Saturn (an amazing incident)

Nearly a week ago, we had received two new demigods into camp with an interesting history covering their lives. Their names were Brian and Allie, both of whom claim heritage to a very different deity from any we've had before: Saturn. When they arrived, Brian had endured the bite of an Egyptian Asp and held it to his arm with magic before it began to cause him great pain and his hold weakened. Yes the initial bite is painless and yes, it is painless when it courses through your bloodstream quickly but it's when you notice it and decide to stop it that it becomes a problem.

Though his arm was useless and would soon kill him if we didn't amputate it, he showed no interest in us so much as my friend and uncle Gabriel. For five days, Brian was unconscious and then for another two, he was recovering in our Asclepius cabin a.k.a. the infirmary but he could tell us his story. I went in one day, when no one else was there, and introduced myself to him before interrogating him about his purpose here. "The day we were forced away from home started like any other," Brian began, lamenting on the details as well as thinking hard to recall everything.

"Allie and I were two of the twelve leaders of Saturn's Land and were of the highest rank: Archbishop. Her brother Conan and our friend Caitlin were also Archbishops and below us were four others called Bishops. They were my brother Roy, Allie's cousin Jacob, my wife Marian, and my sister Cleo with four Archdeacons below them: Daniel, Zeke, Stella, and Jennifer and we were the leaders of Saturn's Land. A peaceful, cloudy (with a chance of rain) day had settled over our home in the Appalachian mountains as was the norm around there and I was on my way to a meeting with everyone except Conan as he had gone missing in action a week before," Brian explained.

"If I may interlude for a moment, I have something for Allie that came from her brother," I said. "Wait, are you sure you obtained this from my brother? Where was he at when you saw him?" she asked, desperate to know her brother's whereabouts. "When I saw him, he was slowly dying of shock, malnutrition, and blood loss from infected wounds in the dungeons of Mount Orthys, the legendary home of the Titans," I told her after warning her.

"Let me see what he had for me please," she said. I pulled out a folded and somewhat crumpled piece of paper that Conan had given me before he died and told her to read aloud whatever it said. With tears making her eyes glassy and sadness choking her voice with each word, she read the letter aloud to us. "_Dear Allie, If you are reading this then I am dead and I have fulfilled my one hope before passing onto the next life: to let you know of what happened to me and to deliver the Sword of Saturn to Brian_," she started.

"Continue Allie, tell us if there is anything else your brother said," I told her. "_Though I love you, I regret to inform you that I am definitely not going to return in time for your dance but rest assured I made the ultimate devotion to Saturn's Land. I have sacrificed my life and the lives of more than half my team to prevent the complete and total annihilation of Saturn's Land. Remember the old prophecy: _'As long as a child of Saturn bears the Sword of Saturn, Saturn's Land shall never be destroyed'.

"_As for Brian, I thank him for being the best friend that both you and I have ever had and I thank him for willingly accepting the Sword of Saturn as my parting gift_," she finished. "Who would ever have thought that a boy like Conan could endure so much pain at anyone's hand just to provide me with the Sword of Saturn and you a letter before passing away. My guess is he held on to life to do those two things and when Thalia found him, he knew that they both would be passed on and there would be no need for him to live anymore; he is now a hero for as long as there is anyone who will tell his story. But let me continue my story and I will explain what he was protecting us against," Brian said.

I nodded and he continued with his story. "We were in a normal session to discuss normal matters when all of a sudden, the sky was so dark that one could easily mistaken it for nighttime. Then we saw a bright light fly just over the statue of Saturn that holds the soul of our father in it and explode just a few miles away from the wall. The resulting impact destroyed the wall as well as a fourth of our entire town, including our primary Police Department, our means of communication, as well as our only college in town," he continued.

"What happened after that?" I asked since he paused for a bit. Then he resumed his story and went to its conclusion. "The aftershocks of the explosion came in the form of a shower of comets that rose from the ground and destroyed almost everything in their path as well as a wave of fire to burn what the comets had missed. I knew we were under attack since I had seen that kind of explosion before in the early days of my term as Archbishop and rallied what remained of our army during the explosion and its aftershocks.

"We waited after all that remained from the impact were the burning houses and building that had been left in the wake of the impact as well as the spots that used to be where the first explosion happened, hoping it really wasn't an attack (least I was). It was when the enemy forces came swarming in that my worst fears had come to life: the Titans had come for us and were set on destroying us down to the last child. Leading them was a Titan with a spear that I later recognized as Prometheus' brother Epimetheus and I rallied the remnants of my fellow officers (numbering six including Allie and my wife) to destroy him.

"He tore all seven of us (five had been killed in the explosion) apart until only Allie and I survived with one more officer staying behind to aid the women and children in evacuating Saturn's Land. As far as I know, not even half a thousand people escaped the destruction of Saturn's Land and most of them barely had any experience in combat. Allie and I were the leaders of a group of twenty-eight that was wiped out on the same day that I had gotten my bite from the Asp that brought about the amputation of my left arm. When my group were being hacked limb from limb by Epimetheus' soldiers and I had been bitten by the asp, I knew there was only one hope: to find your uncle Gabriel Johnson, the legendary son of our father's Greek ego Kronos.

"I set out from there and arrived here with Allie even when the venom threatened to bring about a painful death for me," he said, finishing his story with that. "But what reason would the Titans have for destroying Saturn's Land and to what end would it serve?" Allie asked. "When Kronos transformed into the Roman ego of Saturn for the first time, Saturn was originally just another ego. But then, he manifested into his own deity and betrayed his Greek counterpart in a battle for freedom.

"The Titans knew they couldn't find Saturn so they destroyed our home because it was the only means of taking revenge against Saturn unless they could revive him, which they also couldn't do," Brian explained. I asked him to elaborate on what he meant by reviving Saturn and he did. He took a massive jewel out of his bag and said that this was one of the eyes of the statue of Saturn. "Another like it has residence in the left eye socket of the statue and if this one was to be restored and a laser from them reflected back at them, Saturn can be resurrected," Brian said.

"So what do you need Gabriel for?" I asked. "A child of both Kronos and Saturn are marked in such a way that only they can safely reflect the lasers and revive Saturn. Only such children can survive the process without being vaporized in the process of reviving the god," Brian answered. "And there has not been a need to unleash the power of Saturn upon any enemy until now?" I asked.

Brian shook his head and just then, Percy came in to check on him and see how he was doing. "He's recovering now that we've amputated his arm, he must have resorted all of his magical energy to keeping the venom at bay long enough to reach us," I said. "That's not what I'm here for, I was just coming because I had to ask him if he heard of a weapon called the Sword of Saturn," Percy replied. "What a coincidence, we were just talking about it ourselves," I lied.

"Uncle Gabe addressed it specifically to Brian so I came to hand it to him. Here it is bud, hope you know how to use it because he didn't tell me how it's done," Percy said. "Every true-blooded child of Saturn is required to learn how to use it no matter what their position in our town was meant to be," Brian replied. "Thank you Percy, tell Uncle Gabe that he appreciated that," I told Percy just as something I thought of off the top of my head.

"I'll be back to talk to you later Brian, I mean if that's all right with you. As for you Thalia, Uncle Gabe wants you as soon as you're finished at the Zeus cabin for privacy reasons," Percy said. He left to wait in the lobby until I was finished with my visit and I thanked him for dropping by to drop off the sword. "Allie, can you help me by holding the scabbard while I pull the sword out?" Brian asked.

Allie nodded and held the scabbard of the sword while Brian used his remaining hand to pull the sword from its scabbard. When he removed it from its scabbard, he a good, solid look at the blade as though he were going to the grave with it. Seeing that he was a child of Saturn and one of the last of his kin, that might still have a chance of turning into reality. "For eight years, I have been told that this sword was my destiny and that one day, I would use it to restore the honor of Saturn's Land and my father Saturn," he said.

"Become who you were born to be, become the warrior who will save Saturn's Land just as your ancestor Beowulf the Great who contained your father to the statue and founded Saturn's Land had done. Since that day on May of 1810, the people of Saturn's Land have feared something like this would happen and feared the power of your ancestral sword would have to be called in. And now, here you are, holding the same sword that that great hero had used nearly two hundred years ago when your people need you more than ever," Allie said. "You know Allie, I was rather hoping that your brother was alive and you two had come from that famous bloodline rather than me because I do not have the same bold character that he had; the same warrior character necessary to inspire the people.

"He was not always the sharpest tool in the shed but he knew how to inspire the people when he needed to. And believe me, he's done that more than I have practically to the point of envy on my part," Brian said. "As much as I admire the praise you give my brother, he is dead and you are leader so lead us," Allie said, not even whacking around the bush. "Hmm, perhaps going back to Saturn's Land, destroying our enemy, and reclaiming the land for ourselves could be considered a way of repaying him for saving my life," Brian said.

At this point, I was lost and I asked Brian what he meant by that. "Before I found my way to Saturn's Land, Conan had been assigned by the preceding Archbishop (my maternal grandfather as I later realized after arriving to Saturn's Land) to find me when I had been captured by the Hunters of Diana. They wanted to use stray sons and daughters of Saturn as game for their centuries-long hunts since they had no other game and the Roman gods approved. I was amongst the hunted and Conan had been sent as an undercover warrior that sought to rescue me and any other Saturn children he could.

"Some of my friends back then had been hunted for almost a decade and Conan was sent on a big liberation mission. While I inspired hope into those who would join, Conan truly led us to victory when he staged a surprise attack on the Hunters' cabins in the mountains. The weaker children of Saturn were wise to escape to Saturn's Land while Conan and I took the stronger ones and tore our hunters apart. Ever since that day, I have owed him a very large debt and now that debt shall be paid to Allie," Brian explained.

"I hold your favor to my brother fulfilled, you did enough for him. Now it is your turn to aid those who Conan fought so hard to protect," she replied. Brian nodded and asked if Stephanie could put the sword back in its scabbard then asked me if a suit of armor had been prepared for him. "My uncle would know that better than I so as soon as you feel fit to travel, ask him," I said.

"Didn't Percy Jackson want to speak to us when you were done?" Brian asked. "He's not being rude, he just wishes to meet the famous Percy himself. Since he heard about it, he has wanted to know if it was true that Percy Jackson defeated Kronos and led the demigods of Camp Half-Blood to victory against the Titans that now seek revenge," Allie added. "He wants to meet you too but I can tell you right now that it is all true because I fought with him in the Battle of Manhattan," I said.

"He must be a powerful leader then, may we meet him and know him a little better?" Brian insisted. I nodded and thanked him for his time with me before heading for the lobby to find Percy. Before leaving the room, I heard the nurse say to Brian that he was free to get out of his bed if he wished. "Allie, be ready to help me in case I fall since I haven't used my legs in a long while," Brian said.

I never found out if he needed her help or not since I walked out of the room after that and found Percy waiting in the lobby. Instead, I told Percy that Brian wanted to see him now but he might possibly coming his way now that he was medically judged as fit for travel. "My recommendation is giving him a tour of the camp and learning as much as you can from him about Saturn's Land," I said. "I already received similar orders from uncle Gabe, I'll find out what he wishes us to know about his town as well as this grim situation that's befallen it," he said to which, I replied by wishing him luck on that.

He thanked me then I walked out of the infirmary and back onto the camp. From there, I went on to see what Gabriel had assigned for me for the next week or so. Or at least until my Hunters recovered completely from their encounter with him.


	3. Percy: Learning more about Saturn's Land

Percy: Learning more about Saturn's Land and our guests

Meeting Brian and seeing the stump that used to be his left arm was somewhat of an intriguing experience for me. "I am Brian Thompson, this is my friend and colleague Allie Creed, sister to the late Conan Creed who was an honorable friend and brilliant brother-in-arms," Brian said, introducing himself. "My name is Perseus Jackson, friend and nephew of Gabriel Johnson through Poseidon," I said, knowing how to do this sort of introduction with Gabriel's help in the past. "May we get a tour of your facilities before we speak with Gabriel about returning to Saturn's Land and reclaiming it for ourselves?" Brian asked.

"That's precisely what I am here to give you and I would also like a little insight as to what life in Saturn's Land was like before the Titans attacked. Do you feel comfortable telling me about that?" I asked. He nodded and though Allie said she wouldn't, he said that it was necessary. I agreed because I was truly confused about this whole Saturn's Land deal, Roman gods existing, and stuff like that.

As I introduced him to all the cabins we had besides the Asclepius/Infirmary cabin in the Big House, he told me about how people in Saturn lived their lives. "Considering that we were not nearly as large as say LA or New York and were too big for a small town's life, we lived like small townspeople anyway. We only had enough entertainment systems for the average person to get by (in other words, none of the latest in I-pod technology, not the latest in computer gaming, things like that)," he explained. "Don't you guys get bored not having that much entertainment around?" I asked.

"Actually, we don't as we can usually entertain ourselves with our jobs. I was the supreme Archbishop (first in command) of Saturn's Land. Alongside me were three more Archbishops, Allie, her brother Conan, and our friend Caitlin with four Bishops below us and four Archdeacons below them in turn. Officials lower than that were called Fathers except in the Police and Military departments, which still had normal US rankings," he began. "Every year, we would have two festivals: one to create mass-worship for Saturn as we used to believe he protected us from evil up in the Appalachian mountains," Allie said.

"The other was to celebrate my ancestor, Beowulf the Great, and his heroic deed of sealing Saturn away in the statue outside the walls of Saturn's Land before creating the town. We even go so far as to fit his motto into a speech that honors what he did at his festival every year," Brian added. "And what was his motto, which I presume has become the creed of Saturn's Land?" I asked. "'The most righteous thing you can do is seldom ever the easiest for you or anyone else'," Brian answered.

I continued to tour the camp and introduced them to the many cabins we had here whether built or already part of the camp. When we came to mine, I was surprised to find it cleaner than it usually was and I knew that Tyson had been through at some time. My guess was that he had been occupying the cabin while I was away on a mission of espionage to find Prometheus' present hideout, which no one knew of since I had aided in the destruction of Mount Orthys almost two weeks ago. Either way though, Brian needed a rest and Allie parked him on the spare bunk that was across from mine and made sure he had some food in him before we concluded the tour.

"The doctor said I should try and have at least a snack every four hours for a day or so. Then I won't have to worry about any side effects from the venom or the amputation for a long time if I ever feel it again," he explained. "That's good to hear, we thought you were going to die when you first came in," I said and that was an honest statement. He had come in with the venom of an Asp trapped in his left arm and we had been forced to not only amputate his arm but also squeeze out all the leftover coagulated blood at the risk of the healthy blood being bled out.

"Just one question about that though: how were you able to contain a venom that usually acts quickly to your arm until you arrived, looking like hell?" I asked. "Well, we Saturn children have a means of detecting venom before it acts that is born into us. It's active 24/7 so when I was bitten, the instinctive alarm went off and I used my magic to contain the venom until I arrived," Brian answered. That made sense to me and I decided to then ask him what some of the customs of Saturn's Land had been before it was destroyed.

"One particular custom that we practiced was that we would have districts in our town find out who was their best warrior. After that, we would have the best warriors in the districts compete for the prize of having a high-ranking position. Conan and I competed in one of these contests four years ago and I only one because endurance was not his specialty. He took second place and was rewarded with being my right-hand man when I took my grandfather's place as the Head Archbishop of Saturn's Land," he said.

"Another one was one practiced by soldiers before war where they would bathe themselves, sleep with their wives or girlfriends, then practice their skills in combat against each other before being ordered to form up. Women were faithful to their men no matter what although there was no law against divorce or abortion in our town so this custom worked out very well," Allie added. "I managed to say one last goodbye to my wife before she disappeared in the attack. Truthfully, I hope she's all right because I'd die if I heard she wasn't or worse, enter a frenzy where I destroyed everything in my path to find her," Brian agreed.

"I know what you mean, my girlfriend was captured three years ago by Atlas and I would not rest until I found her again. No one else wanted me to go find her but I went anyway and I guess I am pretty proud of that," I said. "I had to rescue my wife too and that's actually how I met her, when I had to rescue her and dozens of other Saturn kids from the Hunters of Diana (they used to have _many _of us captured before we started fighting back)," Brian replied with a smile. "Think positive about her situation, your house was way too far away to be affected by the blast in any way save the wind; maybe she evacuated right after it happened," Allie said.

He nodded and said he was ready to resume the tour whenever I was. I told him there was not much to see in the cabins after the Hades and Zeus cabins, which was true. After getting out of the Poseidon Cabin, I decided to show the Hades cabin first because I felt it would be necessary for Brian to see who Nico was in case he didn't get another chance. "He is Hades' only child, he's unconscious at the moment since he sacrificed his consciousness to bring up an army that helped us bring down Mount Orthys two weeks back," I explained.

"Quite an honorable sacrifice on the part of the Prince of the Underworld. If he had been a child of Saturn, I would have probably said that he would be a good pupil for Conan. How are his sword skills?" Brian asked. "He's the second best after me but third best after Thalia and fourth best after Gabriel," I answered.

"Gabriel is the best in this camp? How did you guys decide that?" Brian asked. "Well, Thalia happens to be the lieutenant of Diana's Greek equivalent Artemis and thus, the leader of Artemis' equivalent of Diana's Hunters. At the time we met Gabriel, his aura told us that we had to see if he was any threat to us and Thalia volunteered to take her fellow hunters to investigate," I explained.

"What happened?" Allie asked. "Well let's just say that Thalia is the only one of the Hunters who wasn't resting in the infirmary for more than a week after the encounter. Not only that but let's also add they suffered long-term damage to their pride," I answered with a smile. "You mean to tell us that Gabriel was attacked by a bunch of wimpy hunters?" Brian asked.

I laughed since I had never heard them called wimps before but it was fine by me. After all, even though Thalia was the lieutenant and Artemis' second in command, I didn't really have much love for the Hunters considering how they were towards boys. "Your surprise is well understood and fine but trust me, you don't want them hearing that unless you'd like Gabriel to come save your hide," I said and I knew that was true. The Hunters wanted their pride back but they would never dare fight Gabriel after that fateful encounter with him before he came to camp.

Least, not that I would know of but I would have to ask Thalia if they've made any moves to restore their pride yet. After showing them Hades and Nico resting inside it, I showed them the empty Zeus cabin as well as the Hera one but I don't think they needed to see the inside like they did Zeus. Before showing them the rest of the camp, I noticed a rather unique looking sword at Brian's belt and I asked him about it. "It's the Sword of Saturn, the very weapon that my ancestor Beowulf the Great used against Saturn two centuries ago," he said.

"What drove him to do that? Surely Saturn could not have been a threat to his own children, am I correct?" I asked. "Before Saturn's Land was founded, the Roman goddess Juno betrayed him by framing him for a crime she committed and having him banished from Olympus. Her treason drove him to insanity and his children had to go on a mass exodus to find a place where they would be safe," Brian explained.

"What happened from there?" I inquired. "Saturn's insanity increased until at last, he was so hungry for revenge and a return to the throne that he began gathering his children and making them into an army for him to use. He even incorporated some others into his quest for power that weren't even related to him and that's how Conan and Allie fit in the picture. But one day, a lowly boy nicknamed Alexander stood up to Saturn and became Beowulf the Great by defeating Saturn in combat with the aid of two brothers and three sisters," he explained.

"They sealed him in the statue we have back in the ruins of Saturn's Land and took this jewel from the statue so that he would remain sealed. Since the statue is indestructible until the jewel is put back into place, we don't have to worry about the Titans destroying Saturn while he is helpless," Allie added. "That sounds good, what is this jewel you use called anyway?" I asked her. "We call it and its twin, the Eyes of Pandora because Beowulf the Great used them to call upon the powers of Pandora to defeat Saturn," Allie answered.

"Pandora? I thought she was dead," I said. "We thought that too until Beowulf found her deep in the Gobi Desert and called upon her powers to temporarily hold his own against Saturn. According to the legend, his companions helped him get there but he fought Saturn by himself after successfully navigating the perils of Pandora and her desert domain," Brian said.

"Is she still alive?" I asked. "She was cursed with agelessness by the gods and confined to the Gobi after playing her part in the destruction of Prometheus' creations: early man. Only those who are brave enough and strong enough can journey to her Temple and Beowulf was the only one to ever return from that Desert alive with her as the objective," Allie explained. "Is it possible to go back and retrieve her from the desert without the curse reacting to it?" I asked, feeling pity for Pandora.

"It's never been accomplished but to be able to get her out of the desert would be one of the greatest accomplishments on Earth. Surprisingly, the only thing you need to do to convince her is beat her at a game of Pente," Allie answered. "Never heard of Pente, is it some sort of really special game or something?" I asked. "It's a four thousand year old game that kind of acts like _Connect Four _except you have to get five stones in a row know as a Pente to win; perhaps Brian will teach you or Gabriel as they are both very good at it," Allie answered.

"Pente is Greek for 'five' so that's why nobody translated the name of this famous and very old board game," Brian added. I was about to add something to the conversation when Connor Stoll of the Hermes cabin told me that Gabriel wanted to see me in the Zeus cabin. Nodding, I had him continue the tour for me and marched back to the Zeus cabin, knowing that whatever Gabriel had in mind for me would be something relatively interesting and concerning the preparations for a possible assault on this camp from Prometheus. Ever since our success with the attack on Mount Orthys, we have had to remain vigilant for the time when Prometheus would return from a new place and strike against us to even it out with us.

Truly, I hoped it never happened but Gabriel was hell-bent on making sure we were ready in case it did happen. My job lately had been to act as a General whenever he's gone, which is surprisingly frequent considering that he is basically the one leading this campaign. The Hunters of Artemis had already been assigned to find at least an associate of Prometheus' in order to then find out where he was hiding out at. That in turn led me to the question of why Gabriel went chasing after him if that was already the case.

Anyway, I went into the Zeus Cabin, paid my respects to Lord Zeus, and asked Gabriel what he needed of me. "Percy, in a day or so, I may need you take over for me again as I have a feeling Brian and Allie may want me to go back with them to the ruins of Saturn's Land," Gabriel explained, wasting no time as always. "Go back? But they barely escaped with their lives eight days ago!" I said.

"That's true but when Brian's mind is set on something, there is no stopping him. Kind of reminds me of myself back when I was newly christened as a servant of Olympus," Gabriel replied. "You mean to tell me you can't stop him for any reason at all?" I asked. Gabriel shook his head and added that Allie agrees with him about going back to Saturn's Land.

"What is it about that girl that makes my skin crawl whenever I look at her. Not that she's ugly or anything but there's something about her that I don't think is very good," I said. "Perhaps I will find out for you when and if I go with him back to Saturn's Land and possibly back to Hell," he said; I nodded in agreement and seconded that move.


	4. Annabeth: Chiron's secret mission for me

Annabeth: Chiron's secret mission for me and farewell party

Since no more than four people were allowed on a quest, not even this one, I volunteered as quickly as I could if Gabriel was going to make an expedition with Brian and Allie back to Saturn's Land. Now Chiron wanted to see me in the Big House and said that the reason was because of my request to aid Gabriel in this dangerous assignment. Argus was there to greet me when I arrived and I told him that Chiron had requested my presence at the Big House before he could whack me to a pulp with his club. As soon as I entered, I knew Chiron would have business for me that concerned Gabriel and the company he was traveling with.

The trouble is, I didn't know what kind of business he had for me. "Sit down Annabeth and help yourself to some strawberries if you wish. I have a special assignment for you if you choose to go with Gabriel. Will you accept the quest to Saturn's Land and possibly to the Titans?" Chiron asked.

I nodded when he asked this and he hesitated before continuing with his explanation. "You may not believe this but I am actually wishing that you spy on Gabriel for me. Lately, people have been turning to him more than they have to me for guidance and I fear that his impulsive nature may undo us all if we're not careful," Chiron said. I was outraged so much that it probably showed on my face when he made that request to me.

"Look Annabeth, I understand your outrage but I fear greatly for Gabriel. However powerful a warrior he may be, leadership has never been one of his strong points," Chiron explained. That blew my top and I knew I couldn't trust Chiron as long as Gabriel was around. "Listen Chiron ever since Gabriel showed up, you've done almost nothing to enhance the greatness of the camp!" I shouted.

"I can explain that-" he said before I cut him off. "Then explain it mother fucker, explain why it is that while Gabriel is making all the preparations to save our skins from Prometheus' wrath you have been sitting it pretty here in the Big House!" I yelled. I immediately regretted it when he rose up on all of his four legs and summoned up his bow as well as all his godly power in an instant. "You _will _spy on Gabriel for me and you _will _tell me if he is truly leading us or bringing about our ruin by having us paranoid over an enemy that may no longer be a threat!" Chiron boomed.

"Never, I will never do it Chiron. You may have been like a father to me but I will never do it even for you," I warned him. "Why do you believe in Gabriel so much?" Chiron asked. "Because unlike you, he has an actual desire to destroy Prometheus and an actual desire to save us all at any costs," I answered.

"Do you really believe that we have to destroy Prometheus? He is the very reason the Oracle can see the future. Were it not for him, the Oracle would not even have her power to see it the way she does," Chiron said. "But now that the power exists we don't need him to see the future anymore, do we?" I asked.

Chiron chewed on that for a little while then asked if I truly felt that Gabriel was a real leader. "At least he knows how to fight Prometheus and the Titans. On top of that at least he has shown no reservation on doing what must be done," I said. That seemed to really bring down Chiron and I began to wonder to myself if I had perhaps gone too far but then, yet again, spying on Gabriel was kind of an outrageous request coming from Chiron of all people.

Without a doubt, I would have expected Drew Beauregard to make such a request for the purpose of making sure he remained hers for the taking. I could even anticipate Clarisse of the Ares cabin asking that just because she wanted to try and beat him up herself yet again. Perhaps the most surprising after Chiron would be for one of Thalia's Hunters asking me to make sure he died on the mission due to the dent he put in their pride when they encountered him for the first time. But Chiron's request was just enough to make me wonder if Gabriel had personal reasons for avoiding the godhood his status as a son of Kronos sometimes attempted to seduce him into striving for.

"More than once, I have considered how much better I could perform as a god. But then it takes the physical labor out of committing the deed in question and I believe that the best way to earn heroism is to actually show signs of working towards it. In a lot of things, physical labor would be important in something like this," Gabriel once told me during one of our breaks. After hearing that I asked him a question that may sound a little personal: "Have you ever actually desired to become a god?"

For a little while, he hesitated then he told me something I don't think anyone should be without knowledge of. "Yes I have actually desired to become a god but then I remind myself that right at the present moment, there is more to life then seeking immortality. There was, and still is, far more to live for in the mortal world than there is in the world of eternity," he told me. "Then what would say was the problem with those who sought immortality in some manner like the Ancient Greeks and the Ancient Romans?" I asked.

"To me, it's a phobia that infects people even to this day and is a fear that gives Phobos the most power and that is a fear of eternity. Normally, this wouldn't be bad if the person in question didn't also fear it so much that they concentrated on setting the gateway to the eternity they seek that they don't actually live life on Earth before departing. You can ask the Egyptians all about that if you wish and if you can find someone who lived in Ancient Egypt," Gabriel answered. "So in a sense, they are so worried about death that when it eventually does come they have not exactly done anything to actually enter eternity?" I asked.

"Depends how you look at it but that's not an incorrect way of looking at it," Gabriel answered. On an off-note, he added that he wanted to pack a bag with enough supplies to last me a few days or so. "At most, we may or may not be gone two weeks but as much as you can (even if it's enough for two months) anyway," he said. "I suppose Brian and Allie are packing for the trip back to the death hole they escaped from?" I rhetorically asked.

"They're packing what they have in case they don't come back if that's what you mean. I suggest that you pack as much as you can and I will do the same myself, if you have anything else to say before we go our separate ways then feel free to tell me," he answered. "Well… there is one thing I probably should mention," I said. I knew it was about Chiron's favor and I knew I had to tell him even if he didn't give much reaction to it.

"Before I came to talk to you (this is actually the original subject that I wanted to speak to you about), Chiron asked me to spy on you for him while I was away with you and the Saturn children. Can you tell me whether or not that surprises you in any way?" I said to him. He shook his head no and said that he was not surprised by the fact that Chiron had asked me to spy on him. "Ever since my mother beat him at a tennis match (under his terms), he has been like all of the Olympians except Eos, Selene, Helios, and Hestia in the sense that he wanted to get even," he told me.

"Your mother beat him in a tennis match?" I asked, surprised. "According to Eos, my mother was an Olympic athlete that played tennis even in the early months of her pregnancy with me. Chiron used to _love _tennis in those days as well but was so boastful of his skills due to being a centaur that he challenged my mother to an eight-game match," he began. At my encouragement, he continued since he seldom ever released details of his mother.

"Though she was mortal, she commanded some interesting powers that fell into her possession from her ancestral relation to a powerful Greek magician that lived in Egypt (whose specialty weapon is telekinesis). Because of her magic abilities, she was able to outmatch Chiron in both speed and endurance but that's not how she won. She won by forcing him to make a shot up toward the sky as a last resort and an attempt to catch her off guard. Instead, she used her telekinetic abilities to jump after it and hit it between all four of his legs before scoring the point that left him in a near-catatonic state of surprise.

He lost and he kept practicing in hopes for the day when he would get even with her. But when she died shortly after my birth, he gave up for a long time and now here I am with only a few months to go before I am an adult," Gabriel concluded. All I had to say was that I truly felt sorry for Gabriel more than ever, especially when one considers that something his mother did gave him a complicated relationship with his half-brother now. "If there's one person besides most of the gods who I can say without doubt has certainly not learned to quit taking revenge is Chiron; no matter what he tells you, he always bore ill feelings about my mother and the fact that Chiron's father bore a demigod child with her made it worse," Gabe said, concluding the conversation completely.

I packed my stuff as soon as I got back to my cabin and decided not to tell Malcolm what Gabriel had told me today. From the way Gabriel looked at me when he explained Chiron's grudge as well as his mother's involvement in forming it, he had had a hard time letting go of that information to someone who never knew. The gods always knew these things because Zeus had made it the duty of all the gods to monitor Kronos' activities as well as those of his allies if necessary. But telling it to the likes of me was probably difficult enough considering that details about his mother were indeed to be treasured since he never actually knew her and knew very little _of _her.

After that, I decided to go and pay Percy a visit if he was in his cabin. To my delight, he was at his cabin leaning over his desk and probably doing his best to use a map of Camp Half-Blood. His biggest assignment from Gabriel had been to find all of the rivers in camp and identify which ones were likeliest to give him enough power to be of help should Prometheus attempt to invade Camp Half-Blood from the sea.

I placed a hand on each of his arms and rubbed up and down them as I placed my chin on his shoulder. "Any luck with your little assignment, Seaweed Brain?" I asked. "A little but nothing much since he gave me the assignment day before yesterday, Wise Girl," he answered with a smile. "I'll be headed out for Saturn's Land soon, are you coming to see us off when they arrange the farewell party tomorrow?" I inquired.

Chiron and Gabriel agreed to a little going-away party for Gabriel, myself, and the two children of Saturn that could be conducted in a manner where they could wish us luck on our way out to the gates. "Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss that for anything else in the world," he replied. "I'm glad to hear that, see you tomorrow before I take off then?" I asked and he nodded.

"See you then Seaweed Brain, hope you got a nice surprise for me!" I said as I left. "Hey, why not ask Chiron or Gabriel if it's all right if you can share my bunk tonight? I mean, it is the last time I'm going to see you besides an Iris-message for a while," Percy asked. For a second, I thought about it then said I would ask both of them if it was all right if I could do that.

I explained the reason to Chiron but had no need to do so with Gabriel. He already understood why I wanted to sleep in Percy's cabin but Chiron clung to tradition. "You know it's forbidden for cabins to have members sleep in other cabins. We do it so we can tell all of you children apart from each other," Chiron fussed.

However, Gabriel proposed a simple solution to how I should decide where I slept. "Take a drachma and toss into the air. If it's heads (or tails depending on your lucky side) then you'll have both our consent to sleep with Percy. But if it's tails (again unless that's not your unlucky side) then neither of us will approve," he suggested.

I selected heads as my lucky side and flipped the coin with my hopes carried on it. Relief washed over me like a tsunami when I realized that it was heads and Chiron had to consent even if he didn't like the idea of it. Gabriel winked out me however and I knew immediately that he had had a hand in that turn of luck. I smiled and thanked him when I had a private moment to do so and he simply said, "How'd you guess I had a hand in it?"

"Let's put it this way, that wink did not go unnoticed," I teased. He laughed as we rode through the farewell party that proceeded after I had my night with Percy. As to the details of that, well, let's just say those are details best left untouched but one can guess (with a high chance of getting it right) what happened. Nonetheless, the farewell party was a very excellent one and no doubt we had great transportation out: actually it was just the four of us on horses with Brian having a little trouble since he only had one arm.

The sword was strapped on his left waist to a leather belt that held up his pants. We went out the gates of Camp Half-Blood with the graces of a Greek king or maybe even just a general. But after the gates closed, I had a feeling like there was still some uncertainty about whether or not going to Saturn's Land was the right thing. I sensed it in myself but I also sensed something really bizarre about Allie, like she was the cause of all this trouble or something like that.

It would be terrible to find out how close to the truth it came when we had arrived in the ruins of Saturn's Land. Gabriel decided to let me lead us through New York since neither he nor Brian had ever been through New York and Allie had only been here once before so it was up to me. "The streets intertwine upon each other but I'll do my best to get us out of the city without attracting to much attention. Horses are normally only assigned to police officers who find it too difficult to navigate by car but it's not like we're riding on zebras, right?" I said.

Everybody liked that and I made sure to do as I promised. "We can afford to have regular horses without having to cover them in the mist, which is more convenient for this than pegasai," Gabriel agreed. "And a lot less likely to be noticed by the Titans," Brian added. Allie said nothing, she just continued to stare off into space as we moved along.


	5. Gabriel: My decision to help a friend

Gabriel: My decision to help an old friend

Annabeth and Allie fell asleep but Brain and I were both restless even when we knew we needed sleep bad. Brian was up on guard-duty and I was not due for another hour or so but that didn't really matter. I was restless and I had made sure not to leave the Sky Sword in my tent just in case I would need it. "Hey Brian, still restless like you were when we first met?" I asked.

"Was I restless even then?" he answered. I nodded but he didn't seem surprised by that. "How do you feel about this new quest that I have bestowed upon you, old friend?" he asked. The fact that he called me 'old friend' was interesting but it was a true statement of our status as friends. Before he went to Saturn's Land (eventually becoming its mayor or its governor if you will) we served under the command of an Olympian battalion led by a resurrected Greek general.

It was really just a simulation run of what we would do if we were in an actual battle of Grecian warriors but Brian struck me as a brother in arms. Together, we took out the worst that the simulation had to offer and I remembered Brian being an incredible warrior with the basic sword and shield supplemented every now and then by a spear. My specialty weapons were either a single two-handed sword or a pair of one-handed swords and together, we made for the best team that our trainer had ever seen. Interestingly enough, my trainer had been the soul of the late Perseus himself and more than once we were pitted against him.

But that was a long time ago, which was precisely why I had the feeling that Brian had not changed much even with his arm amputated. I managed to get back on track with the conversation and answered him by saying he didn't bestow it upon me. "You're an old friend and I chose to help you out as you used to help me long ago," I said. "I feel really bad about those old days and now I remember why," he said randomly.

I asked him why but I was not prepared for what he had to say next. "You said I helped you but I think in truth, I didn't. Our trainer Perseus saw weakness in me and saw that I was only good in defense. He only used me as a front to see how well you would do if you didn't have to worry about being shot at," he told me.

"That's not true and you know it. Perseus wanted us both to learn as much as we could in what we specialized in but he also wanted to teach us the arts we were failing in. He wanted to teach us this much at least: that we can still be good at what we are weakest at to the point of being able to put up a damn good fight. By no means were you a weak fighter even if you were not as good as I was, good enough to beat anyone else either one of us fought," I told him.

"I am just being a big hassle on you, just come out and say it," he replied with some tears beginning to form in his eyes. "You were never a hassle Brian and you still aren't. Don't you _ever _think that for even a millisecond of your existence," I snarled. He said nothing for a little while then he looked up at me to speak to me again. "When you put it that way, you make me feel less guilty of that accident, remember?" Brian asked.

I remembered that accident very well as if it had just happened yesterday. One day, during our training, Perseus sensed that each of us were individually becoming too powerful for the simulations so he made it interesting. He decided that when we were nearing the end of our last simulation, _he _would be the peril awaiting us in the throne room of the simulated Palace. We were the only ones in our team of forty-two who had made it unscathed and ready to continue fighting but we were ill-prepared for him being our target.

"What's the matter you two? Surprised to see that your trainer is the objective of your assassination?" he asked us. Brian had not only been surprised, he had been nearly traumatized in his head. As for me, I was pissed that he hadn't told us this would happen before the day of that simulation.

"Your time has come to face me or be destroyed as you have grown too powerful for the simulations. Both of you have grown too powerful for the simulations and even my father Zeus knows it," Perseus had said. We fought him for a long time after that but that was when the accident happened. While I held Perseus in a defense of position and Brian was finding trouble hacking through, he accidentally slashed at his thigh and successfully cut an artery in it.

After that little accident, I sliced Perseus' jugular and that caused a fountain of ichor to spill away from him. He fell to the ground instantly but the worst part was that he never came back up after that. At first, we thought this was part of the simulation and he would be all right soon but Zeus closed the assembly and said that Perseus had actually been destroyed when I sliced his jugular. Ever since that day, I have wondered why Perseus put himself in one of his own simulations and it seemed to me as though Brian had taken it worse than I did, which I deeply sympathized for.

"You don't have to take any guilt for the accident. Remember, I was the one who struck the killing blow that ended the easy bit of our training," I said to him. "But I was the one who provided the opening for you when I slashed his thigh," Brian replied. "That's besides the point Brian and I assure you that we did what we had to do back then; the past is the past and this is now," I said to Brian.

"You still willing to stand by the side of an old friend?" he asked. "Do you really have to ask that question, Brian? I mean it is kind of stupid that you have to ask that question," I answered. "Very funny Gabe, now get some sleep before it's your time to take guard duty," Brian said.

"I've lost all will to sleep, now I can only wait in a state of restlessness before my time comes. Annabeth and Allie have already served theirs but before I serve mine, I have to ask you something," I explained. He nodded and told me that I could ask him whatever I wanted to ask him. "Allie seems to be rather mysterious, when you picked her up did you suspect anything about her?" I asked.

"Initially, I thought her silence was just because of the trauma she experienced from seeing Saturn's Land destroyed. But when she started talking to me again and looking like she was always depressed, I did indeed began to develop a suspicion about her. Why, does she have you a little on edge as well?" he answered. I nodded in reply to his question and he whispered to me that actually didn't really trust her all that much either.

"Comforting as it is, it won't be of use at least until we arrive to the ruins of Saturn's Land. Maybe we can find some clues about her behavior as well as to why your home was destroyed when we do arrive," I said. "Don't hope for too much Gabe, when I left they were burning the place down to ashes save for the indestructible statue of Saturn," Brian told me. "Perhaps it's time that we unlocked the god within that statue, it may be the only way to save your people from destruction," Gabe said.

"Beowulf the Great and everyone after him (myself included) feared such a reply as that to this situation. There was a very good reason for Beowulf containing my father to that statue except to have children amongst mortal women. If we unleash Saturn in his full power, he could destroy us if not you and Annabeth with us," Brian said, begging me not to even think of that possibility. "I like it no more than you do but it may be the only way to save your people from permanent annihilation," I replied to him.

He paused for a moment and told me something I made sure to remember later on. "When this is over, and if I'm still alive, I'm gonna gather what remains of my people and let the gods guide me to a safe place for them to be. And it's gonna be a place where even you wouldn't expect me to choose," he told me. "You will do that for them, I know that to be true of you," I told him in agreement.

"Thanks Gabriel, I'm willing to say at this time that I have had no truer friend then you in my life. For one thing, you have neither died on me nor practically gotten me killed although I can definitely say that I got you close to death even without intending it more than once," he said. "Don't remind me," I teased with a small laugh from both of us.

"You know something Gabriel? One of your finest talents had always been to put a smile on people's faces. Especially the ladies when you're putting the moves on them, know what I mean?" he teased back. "Hey, I get more action than you do so watch it," I said, smiling.

"Whatever, don't bullshit me dude," he said. We both started roaring with laughter at that point and it was amazing we didn't get so much as a reaction from the girls. But I was most definitely sure that we had practically woke them up at that point and they had to cover their ears with their pillows to keep our commotion out. I had to hand it to Brian, he had a way with joking around and being very funny even with the trauma of missing his left arm.

"Hey Brian, I came on this journey because you're an old friend and you were the leader of Saturn's Land before its untimely destruction at the hands of the Titans. My decision to help out an old friend was made by my conscience and my heart. Don't forget that for one second of your continued existence Brian," I told him when we got serious again. He nodded and told me that my time was almost here to take his place as a sentry for us.

"How about I just take it now and add some extra time to how long I can sleep afterwards?" I asked. "You sure about that? I mean, who would want to take guard duty earlier than they're supposed to besides you?" he asked back. I nodded and he shrugged, saying that he felt like he needed the sleep anyway and went to his tent to slip on some pajamas.

I was little beyond the range of the campfire we had built when I took guard duty from Brian. All in all, it was a peaceful shift and I saw nothing that would catch me off-guard nor anything that would bring peril to the group. However, I did receive a friendly visit from Nyx the goddess of the night herself. "Hey Nyx what's up and oh, how's Erebus been?" I asked, trying to be friendly.

"Erebus is fine last I checked but I came on his behalf to warn you of something. If I may speak, I am to deliver this warning from Erebus to Gabriel Johnson," she said. I told her that I was Gabriel and she delivered her warning to me quickly. "Erebus told me to tell you to turn back from this path now because if you don't, it may see your demise when you arrive at the remains of Saturn's Land," she said.

I understood this warning at once without having to ask her why he would say that. Now I had a new message for her to deliver back to her former husband if she could do it. "Nyx, I have a message for Erebus if you wish to take it to him," I told her. "I will take it to him as my request from him was to give his message to you and then take any message from you back to him," she said.

"Then tell him this: Brian of Saturn's Land is an old friend of mine. My decision to help him has been made and I will not turn back. If you are worried about him encroaching on some domain of yours when he tries to find a place for his people then that is not my problem," I said. I added that I hoped I received no further interference from Erebus and that was my message.

"You may be his friend Gabriel but Erebus will not control his temper because of his friendship to you," Nyx said, begging me to change my mind. However, I would not be swayed because I knew that Erebus liked to do this to mortal people including myself. "Tell him also that if he has any further problems with my decision he is to say so to my face rather than send you otherwise, he should stay out of my way," I said to her. She disappeared after that and I knew that I was going to have trouble with Erebus in the future but it didn't matter; darkness is not always kind anyway and neither or any of the gods above and below.

Besides, I had the Sky Sword if Erebus wished to find and destroy me above ground. The powers of the sky would be at my command then and even if I fought him underground, I would still make for a formidable opponent. Erebus had his warning as he had tried to give me mine and now, how he took it is entirely up to him and not I. Nothing happened after that except that I had a vision of somebody fighting Erebus in his domain and then bringing light to that domain, putting an end to him temporarily.

The person in my vision had a regular right arm and some demonic left arm so that was why I wasn't quick to assume it was anybody particularly. When my shift was finished, I went back into my tent and rested like everybody else but I still had trouble understanding the nature of that vision. I knew somebody was fighting Erebus with a sword on the human hand and a shield over the demonic one and I wondered if it was some former minion of Erebus fighting him or something like that. In the morning, I told Brian of my vision and he looked at me like I had convicted him of some sort of crime.

"A demonic arm of your description was what was supposed to come to anybody who tried to contain the essence of Saturn in one place. It can be for giving me a new arm but I would have to make sure not to get it severed unless I wanted to see Saturn escape me," he explained. "Is this what Beowulf the Great feared when he fought your father two hundred years ago?" I asked. "That was why he issued the creation of the statue and even paid exiled children of Vulcan to do it," Brian answered with a nod.

"Well, I am still with you even if you wish to turn back. If you're afraid just let me know and I understand," I told him. "I am very much afraid of what might be waiting for us when we get back to Saturn's Land. What if Epimetheus is still there and he intends to somehow use us to unleash Saturn for his own purposes?" he asked.

"I doubt Epimetheus is that smart but I do believe he is smart enough to make a plan for us if he wanted to. But then, I could be wrong and I just think he's dumb from the experiences I have had with him," I said We were on our way after that dark conversation.


	6. Gabriel: Letting Brian lead the way

Gabriel: Letting Brian lead the way to Saturn's Land and an old foe

Shortly after the night that Brian and I had our talks, we got out of New York and Brian said he knew the way from there. "I have been in most of the East Coast except for New York, I know this area very well now that we're out of NY," he said. "Then I think it's time we let you up in front instead of Annabeth, leading the way. Sorry Annabeth but you have done a very good job as it is," I said.

"I'm perfectly fine with it, I just am not used to having to ride a horse to our destination," Annabeth said. "Couldn't we have taken a plane instead?" Allie complained in agreement. "That's what Prometheus would be hoping for, to be at Saturn's Land quickly so that any plans he has can be fulfilled by his brother quickly. If we take horses down there, it will make Epimetheus lessen his vigil for us," Gabriel replied.

"Epimetheus is not like his brother when it comes to patience. We can definitely use that against him when it comes to attack strategies," Brian added. Annabeth did not say anything after that but Allie had a couple more complaints before she too submitted to our line of thinking. But Annabeth's comment that this was a strategy worthy of Athena was what really interested me.

"What makes you think that when I have told you about how I've fought gods before?" I asked. "Well… I guess I didn't really mean anything; just came out with a complimentary intention. Sorry if it offended you Gabriel, slayer of Hyperion and archrival of Prometheus," she answered. I thought about carefully then I decided that it was time I revealed something I had been hiding about the Hyperion affair.

Truth was, though I didn't find out about it until recently, Hyperion was not dead. He would no longer be threat to either man or gods no but he was still alive unlike what I thought had happened. According to Eos, because of her connection to her father, told me he was alive and inhabiting the body of a cobra that happened to wander around places where demigods can be found. "Can he converse with people if he needed or wanted to?" I asked when I found this out.

"That's the extent of his present power, yes. If you needed information from him you could get it out of him but it would be best to avoid the venomous fangs of the serpent," she answered. "Hey, if I ever come across a cobra that happens to be capable of talking I will improvise on the venomous bite. I'm more worried for you now that I know he's still alive than you could be about me," I told her.

"At least I know I still have my handsome mortal man Gabriel looking after me," she said with a giggle and a smile. My worries temporarily vanished at seeing that smile on her face and truthfully, I was glad that was the case. But that's beside the point since I was talking about Hyperion, not about romantic experiences I had with his daughter. Anyway, bottom line is that he survived our last meeting and he could be of assuming that he had been near Saturn's Land when it was destroyed or had heard about any plans the Titans had had to destroy it.

When I explained to Annabeth about Hyperion's fate, Brian pulled out a sack and asked me if it was this snake. "Get me out of this ridiculous contraption!" a voice inside the sack shouted. Immediately, I recognized that that voice was the voice of Hyperion himself and asked that Brian pull him out. "Thank you, you have no idea how ridiculous it is to be trapped-" the snake said before turning to see me then stopping in the middle of his sentence.

"Guess I don't have to ask if you remember me," I said to it. "Oh I remember you as clearly as the brightest light I used to be capable of producing with my former power. How in the universe are you still alive; I would have thought Prometheus had destroyed you by now," the snake said. "And I would have thought you would have found a way to return to your former power by now," I replied to him.

"Last time I saw you, you were just a boy and now look at you. You look so much like your father when he was young that it's frightening," Hyperion said. "Last time I saw you I could see where Helios got his looks and where all three of your children got that bright light they have in their eyes and you certainly not small by stature," I snapped. Hyperion spat at me as best he could in his snake form and it came out more of a moist hiss than an actual spit.

"Hyperion, are you going to be a good boy and tell us if the Titans have any real reason for doing what they did to Saturn's Land?" Brian said. His grip on the cobra was intense so that way it could not turn around and bite him or anyone else. And it was either because of that tight grip or something else he might have planned, he told us. "Yes they do and it is a simple reason that even you mortals have for doing some of the things you do: revenge," Hyperion said.

"Revenge? For what reason might you feel revenge against the children of Saturn's Land?" Brian asked. "Simple, Saturn started out simply as the Roman ego for Gabriel's father Kronos. Then he betrayed him and Kronos vowed that the full might of the Titans would rain upon Saturn and any children he might have," Hyperion answered.

"So because Saturn was unavailable to suffer your wrath, you took your revenge out on his kids?" Annabeth asked. "Oh I am afraid it's a little more complicated than that but you are on the right track so far. Perhaps Epimetheus will reveal the full plan to you before he kills you in the ruins of Saturn's Land," Hyperion told her. "I wouldn't bother with forcing it out of him for right now Brian, maybe he'll tell us when a little more time goes by and things seem to go in his favor," I told Brian before he could start torturing Hyperion with harder squeezes.

"Oh you can be sure that I will, especially if it means the end of you, Gabriel Johnson!" Hyperion hissed. "My death will not come by your fangs nor will it come from Epimetheus. You might as well give up anything you may be coming up with now," I told him. I meant more to scare him than boost confidence in myself because Hyperion couldn't do anything to me as long as he never had a chance to stick his fangs in me nor had Epimetheus ever come close to killing me before.

"Put him back in the bag before he gets any ideas about how to demote our confidence. If there's anything I know about Hyperion, it's that he has a rather wicked tongue like most of his fellow Titans," Annabeth ordered. Brian did precisely that and handed the bag to Allie for safekeeping for the rest of the journey to Saturn's Land. "You have fought him before Gabriel?" Brian asked.

I nodded and told him that I would tell him the details tonight when we had a private moment like we did last night. Annabeth already knew the details so I didn't have to explain myself to her but it was interesting to see that Allie didn't ask to know how we met. It was as if somehow, she knew either symbiotically or she had been spying on me for my whole life after training under Perseus. Maybe it was paranoia or maybe the fact that I was curious to know why she held her tongue and always looked sad but I never quite understood her attitude.

But considering that she was very silent, she made up for her lack of speech through her incredible skill with a pair of katanas she carried with her. I had asked Annabeth to persuade her into a practice duel and I knew that though Allie might not be as powerful as her brother Conan or even as skilled as Brian, she was definitely a deadly adversary in her own right. After seeing her performance on the battlefield, I decided it was best to keep an eye on her as often as I could spare because now I didn't like the way she presented herself to us. It was almost as though we couldn't trust her, at least I couldn't, and that having her would somehow jeopardize the entire mission for the rest of us.

I told Brian about my suspicions when we had another moment to talk alone and he too seemed a little rattled by her presence. "She is a damn good fighter like her brother was but as you and I both know, that doesn't really stop somebody from being a traitor. If she is one, there's no stopping her from turning that skill against us when the time comes," Brian said in agreement. "Should I suggest to Annabeth that she watch until we arrive to Saturn's Land at the very least?" I asked.

"Do as you wish, I want no traitors in my group and you of all people know the reason why I'm serious about this," Brian answered. I nodded in agreement with what he said because it was true that Perseus' surprise attack and murder had taken a huge toll on him. But the more I saw him, the more I thought that maybe it had taken a toll on him for the better. Before, he had been very naïve and lacked the perception I had obtained from watching my loved ones die but now it seemed he had really matured.

Watching him now, I could see the makings of a leader in him where before they had been very faint if even existent. Now we were in the final stages of our journey and the smell of smoke began to become present to our noses. This wouldn't be much if weren't for the fact that we were actually not in a city but in the middle of forest near the Appalachian mountains. The smell of smoke told us immediately that we were heading in the right direction and the accompaniment of the smell of burnt, decomposing flesh only confirmed that we were heading in the right direction as it thickened until you knew just from breathing that hundreds if not thousands of people had died in a fiery way recently.

Hyperion confirmed it despite no one having to ask him for a confirmation. "No doubt, the strategy was planned by Atlas in spite of being carried out by Epimetheus. Hopefully, we will have a visual on the results in the morning for it is late now and the girls had an undoubtedly large need for rest," he said in a malicious way that was almost taunting. "Yes we do but don't give _this _girl a reason to take you, throw you to the ground and smash your head until your little skull breaks from the pressure of her boots," Annabeth growled back at him.

"If the little girl does that then she will find herself in a lot more trouble than she had anticipated. One of two things will happen in the event that I am killed in this form: first, I will revive in full as the God of Light itself. The second thing is that if there is no way for me to revive and I am killed, the wrath of my daughter Eos will fall upon you unless Gabriel can calm her," Hyperion replied calmly. I admitted to Annabeth that Hyperion was right and she would not want see Eos mad; I even added that I was speaking from experience when I said that.

"You're lucky Hyperion because if it weren't for that protection, I'd smash you now," Annabeth said before she left the argument. I couldn't blame her for wanting to smash Hyperion under her boot because I wanted to do it too. For one thing, Hyperion had found a way to cheat death even though it was a way that cost a lot of power.

After putting him back in the bag with some aid, Brian saddled up and continued to lead us through the forest we were in. We were miles from any nearby city and it would take a helicopter a couple hours to come find us if we got hurt. Plus none of us except myself carried as cell phone since it was best to keep our location hidden from monsters when we were outside Camp Half-Blood and even when you were safe behind its borders. "Enough with the long faces, we're approaching the place you seek at twelve o'clock," Hyperion said.

Sure enough he was right, the smell of smoke was beginning to faintly in the air. It was official that we were headed for Saturn's Land once the smell of burning flesh in the middle of decomposition accompanied the already nasty smell of smoke. "To think that my home could be reduced to such a state… I will destroy the Titans starting with the one who carried out this plan!" Brian shouted. "Epimetheus, oh Epimetheus, come out come out wherever you are," Hyperion yelled at the top of his lungs.

I clamped my hand down on his mouth and he chuckled in the knowledge that he had already sounded an alarm. "Son of a bitch just set the alarm for Epimetheus and anything else in this damned place! We will have to find a place to settle at where they can't reach us if we want to avoid confrontation until we arrive," I snarled. Allie grabbed Hyperion and ran off into the woods to find us a spot and I sent Brian to make sure she did precisely that rather than wait until she reached a point where she could betray us if that was her mission.

Brian trusted that I might be right, which was why he went with her. Meanwhile, Annabeth and I held off those of the skeleton forces when Hyperion issued his cry for help. When that was done, we called out to Brian and he sent a flare up into the air for us to see. We arrived a nice clearing in the forest and decided to settle down there before and see where we could make our second attempt at entry into Saturn's Land.

It came in the form of an abandoned pipe with water flowing out of it. Annabeth got out a flare for me and I lit it up to see if there was anything to worry about. After I checked that it was safe, I waved my arm for the others to follow me but made sure that Hyperion was in his bag before moving on. "Annabeth, have another flare ready for me when this one goes out, please," I said.

"Do you want me to just wait until yours is almost out then light another one if the pipe is that long?" she asked. I nodded and asked how many flares we had in case this was one of those really long pipes. "We have nine right here plus another six in the bag Hyperion's making his home in," she told me. "He seems to like Allie so when and id we're on our last or second to last stick before we're out, ask her to pass up her flares to you," I said.

She nodded and we walked up the pipe with the flare's pinkish-red light keeping everything within our view. Allie fell behind a couple times but we saw to it that we stayed as a group. The pipe was long but not as long as I thought it would be and made sure that the children of Saturn went ahead first. Looking back at the inside of the pipe and seeing Annabeth climb out, I decided it was time I revealed one of my greatest secrets to her, one I had kept even from Eos that concerned why my left arm was never bare.


	7. Annabeth: Gabriel reveals secret power

Annabeth: Gabriel reveals his greatest weapon to me

After successfully navigating the pipe, which smelled just of rats and a couple of spiders (oh how they make me shiver), Gabriel watched as I climbed out with a look on his face I hadn't seen before. "Uncle Gabe, is something wrong?" I asked. Believe me, I wasn't used to calling him Uncle but I was trying to start it to be polite. "Number one, don't call me uncle because I haven't earned the title yet and number two, I have decided it's time I showed you something," Gabriel said to me.

"Sure, what is it?" I asked, a little cautious but at the same time I was curious. "But before I show you it though, I have to tell you a little story about how I got it first. It's the reason I have hidden it all these years from everyone I've known, even Eos, except for Zeus," he said. I sat down and made myself comfy since I knew this was probably going to be a long one and he smiled at that.

"I did not tell you much about my mother besides that I never really knew her. That was true but there was a darker and more sinister reason to why I never really gave any details. The reason is because I was the reason my father killed her when I was a little kid," Gabriel said. "Wait, he killed her although she was the one who bore you for him?" I asked.

He nodded and I decided it was best to let him tell the story before he lost the courage to do so. "What I know of what happened comes from Hestia since she was the one who saved me at Eos' urging and Helios' help. When I was about three or four years old, my mother and I were making a living by ourselves without the aid of my father. At my birthday party (either my third or fourth, I'll have to ask Hestia again at some time), my father returned for me and decided to give me a gift my mother had to refuse.

"'This boy will be my champion on Earth until I am ready to take my revenge against his brothers and sisters on Olympus', that was what Kronos said to my mother from what Helios told me. What I can remember of that incident was Kronos poking his finger into the center of my palm and it burned. The burning, as fate would have it, was not so much my life force as my mortal essence; he was making me a god before I was even ready for it. My mother tried diplomatically to get him to stop it but he ignored her and continued to burn away my mortal body," Gabriel explained.

He gulped hard and held back tears in his eyes, which was a clear sign that this was hard for him. I insisted that he continue by saying that it'd probably hurt less to let it out than to hold it in. "He burned off my entire left hand before my mother took a champagne bottle and hit him upside the head with it. It shattered and left deep lacerations on his head down to his left ear before he turned around and received a cut across his right eye from what remained of the bottle.

"Anger for my mother took his focus off me and stopped the spell before he could even begin it. All she wanted was for him to be focused on her and told me to run to my room and not ever come out even if Kronos told me to. She even added that I should lock my room so that he would have difficulty getting in and I went into my room while she held her ground against my father. I obeyed and locked my closed bedroom door from my father just before hearing him yell at her about interfering in his affairs.

"'You dare defy me mortal woman! Remember who I am, I am the father of the gods of Olympus and the Lord of the Titans themselves!' My mother told him to go to Tartarus and added that she didn't care if he was the lord of more than one universe but she wanted him to keep away from me. I heard the sound of a blade being drawn out of a scabbard after that and the last thing I heard my mother say was that she was not afraid of him.

"After she made that bold statement he told her that she was a strong woman but not _that _strong. I heard a sickening sound of flesh and clothes ripping at that point with bones breaking and liquid splashing onto the marble floor of our home. My mother did not scream once although she probably endured enough pain to make someone else scream, maybe even make grown men shriek. I heard a thud to the floor and the beginning of footsteps that were headed in my direction and though I was young, I knew there was no way that the door was going to hold against him for even a moment.

"He broke it down just as a hand came on my shoulder and assured me that I would be all right. I turned to see Hestia for the first time and told her to look at what Kronos had done to my hand. 'We're going to fix that baby, we just have to get out of here first before we do', she said to me. She did it with such a voice that I suddenly wasn't afraid of my father or afraid of what he might do when he came in.

"Hestia told me that the only way out was for me to hold my ground and defend myself against my father so I waited until he came in. She told me to use my left arm with the golden hand and I instinctively rose it up into fighting position. Kronos came in and saw me having the calm of an adult who had faced fights before and won. He laughed but that was before I punched him in the balls then tripped him before making my escape.

"Hestia lit him aflame while I saw the ruined body of my mother who had taken a massive stab to the chest as well as several slashes across her face and lower body. Blood was splattered over most of the TV set, almost all of the living room carpet, and all of the couch we had shared before he returned. I noticed that some had even stained my father's face, hands, and sickle before I escaped him to my uncle's house. On the note of Kronos, I heard him vow that I would never escape him and I looked at my hand as proof of the fact that I wouldn't.

"Even when I was in bed with Eos, she never saw my hand because Zeus had it disguised. That is, unless I told him I didn't want it disguised and I just barely got finished telling him telepathically that I wanted you to see it. Actually, I told him to undo it entirely so that everyone can see what sort of beast my father tried to make me into," he concluded. Then he pulled off his glove, rolled up his sleeve and showed me a golden hand on his left arm; the gold color extended just past his wrist but was a mark nonetheless.

"I can use it as a weapon that strengthens my punch several times over. Steel walls have fallen before this baby and now, Epimetheus shall fall and so will Saturn if necessary," he told me. "Thank you for sharing that with me Gabriel, I would certainly love to see your hand at work," I said with a laugh and that was true. I really did want to see this power in action and the upcoming fight with Epimetheus was the only way to see it.

"See that tree on your left that has the massive curve on it before continuing to ascend to the sky?" Gabriel asked. I nodded and then I got the idea that I was supposed to move considering the way he looked at me. Then in the snap of a finger, he punched the tree and split the top half off the tree and shattered it into millions of tiny wooden fractures. The fractures themselves burned up and the stump at the lower half cauterized so that the tree could never grow back.

"Kronos gave me a power that has allowed me to destroy gods and mortals alike. It doesn't matter who my opponent is, this weapon I possess helps me take them down when I have to. That's how I won against Hyperion after he was transformed back into his original form and attempted to assassinate Zeus," Gabriel told me. "This power of yours is incredible, how come you don't use it more often?" I asked.

"Because the more it's used, the more I lose my mortality and get closer to becoming a god. That's something I've run away from ever since Kronos tried to make me into one and my mother died stopping it," Gabriel answered. "But Kronos is dead, you have nothing to be afraid of now," I told him. It had to be true because yes Kronos was dead and yes he had tried to make Gabriel his champion and failed.

"No, I still have something that holds me back from becoming a god. In fact, at least three things that hold me back from becoming like Zeus or our brothers," Gabriel replied. I asked him what those things could be and he told me that one of them was that he would have to die before becoming a god and he didn't want to die yet. "The next is that my mother died to prevent me from becoming a god so maybe there was a reason behind that," he said.

He added that the last thing was that he feared that if he became a god, he would turn against Olympus and attempt to destroy it like his father did before him. "But the worst of that is that I'm afraid I might actually possess the power to succeed," he said. "You're mortal for these reasons but will you accept becoming a god if you have to?" I asked. He answered by nodding his head and saying only if he had to would he take the mantle of an immortal deity.

"I am content to have this as my greatest weapon and I have decided that you be the first to see it. Please prove to me later on that I did it for the right reasons and chose _you _for the reasons," he asked. I agreed to doing so and he smiled, saying that I was a true daughter of Athena. "I've only met one other like you but she died because of my feelings for her," he said.

I realized he was talking about Nadine and I knew there was no helping him there. "Let's reunite with Brian and Allie, they're probably still waiting for us by the river like I told them to. I want to prevent Hyperion from finding any means of exploiting us like he almost did when he sounded the alarm of our presence," Gabriel said. Believe me when I say I couldn't agree more on that matter and followed him to the river he spoke of, which had been newly created by the destruction of some of the pipelines in Saturn's Land.

We ran in case the children of Saturn were in trouble but I was surprised to find that they weren't. Allie was more silent and a little more sad looking than ever before but besides that there was no trouble. I was about to say that there was no trouble and was glad they were okay when suddenly, a battalion of skeleton soldiers sprung around us as though we were caterpillars in a fire ants' colony. Quickly, my knife was pulled into my hand and Gabriel had the Sky Sword of his head so that he could tap into some lightning or something like that.

Brian had the Sword of Saturn out and Allie had her two short swords out to fight with Hyperion's bag strapped onto her. She was at my side and the boys were behind us as we prepared to fight. When Gabriel lit up the sky, we began our battle and killed as many as we could. Allie and I fought together for the first and only time in our lives!


	8. Annabeth: Separating from Gabriel

Annabeth: Accidentally separating from Gabriel and Brian

Allie and I fought so hard together for so long that we unnoticeably distanced from Gabriel and Brian. There were the occasional lightning bolts that struck down some of our enemies but we were mostly on our own. In the distance, I saw Gabriel create a tornado that swept most of our enemies away and was headed toward us. Allie told me to find something to hold on and I was too surprised to hear her say anything to disagree or argue.

We both held on to the branches of a dead tree and tried our best to hold out until the storm passed. But the worst part was when the storm stopped blowing up into the sky and exploded outwards with enough force to break the branches we were holding on to and sending us flying. Luckily for Hyperion, his bag was sent flying out of Allie's reach and the fall saw him landing in soft mud where he could then loosen the bonds of his imprisonment and escape to alert Epimetheus if he wished. Meanwhile, Allie and I were sent down a rocky hill that beat and scraped us harder and more deeply than we had imagined.

I hit pile after pile of rocks and was repeatedly sent back spinning in the air from the force of the hit. Allie was not looking much better either and unlike me, (I was spinning sideways so that my back was at the most risk) she was spinning forward and sometimes hitting her face or butt on the rock. She held out her arms to protect her face as she could only protect that and ended up with arms that were severely scraped in exchange for a face that only received a few marks here and there. The hill was a long and wide one created by the destruction of the walls of Saturn's Land and not too far away from the statue Brian spoke of.

I landed in the water but it didn't help much in the way of softening the fall but Allie landed on her back, her feet just a few inches away from the stream I had fallen into. Hyperion slithered next to her while I crawled out of the water and tried to stop him from doing anything to her. "Oh don't be alarmed Athena's daughter, I'm just checking to see if she's still alive," he told me. I made sure I was ready to pounce on him in case he drew back to bite her but he simply placed his chin on her throat and checked for a pulse.

"Let's see, she has no permanent injuries although I'd give her arms and her back a look and see if there's any damage. She's alive but she'll be unconscious for a while, perhaps no more than about ten or fifteen minutes. After that she will not be able to stand up, let alone fight, for another half hour or so but nothing permanent as far as I can tell," he said. That analysis made me wonder just what the extent of his powers in this form were but I was sure glad I could stand up although my back hurt too much to stand tall and my legs were shaky from the fall.

"Anything broken on your back or what?" Hyperion asked and I shrugged as best I could. He looked at me briefly and told me to try and stand up as straight as I could without stopping from the pain. I almost made it and was not pleased to see that I failed to stand all the way upright but Hyperion looked at me the same way a doctor would. After getting up, I could swear I felt my lungs fighting to squeeze in even a little oxygen and pump out carbon dioxide again, each breath laborious and difficult.

Hyperion took one look at me and said that though there shouldn't be anything broken, I would definitely need to examine my back the moment I return to Camp Half-Blood. "That is, if you ever return to Camp Half-Blood alive after all this," Hyperion said with a chuckle. "I'm pretty certain that although I'm badly wounded, I will return to Camp alive," I told him. "Oh but what makes you so certain of that when you consider that there is a traitor in your group?" Hyperion asked.

"A traitor like you perhaps?" I answered, hoping that catch him off guard. "How wrong you are for you see, I was never allied with you to begin with. Perhaps consider someone amongst you who _is _an ally and is not a boy," Hyperion replied. Allie was beginning to stir at this point and I was wondering if it could be possible.

I had had my suspicions about Allie and none of them were too pleasant but I never would have guessed. "You Athena children pride yourselves on knowing everything yet time after time, even I have a few tricks in my bag that you never would have guessed. I came with a fully prepared plan in the event that Kronos was defeated and consulted Prometheus and his ability of premonition before even igniting it," he said. "And how does she fit into your plan?" I asked.

"Oh it's quite simple really, my plan included making little steps toward a point where we could then destroy your precious camp as well as mighty Olympus without the aid of your grandfather Kronos. She was the second stage of those little steps when she betrayed Saturn's Land to me and the impregnation of Gabriel's mother with him was the first," Hyperion answered. "Wait, how does _Gabriel _fit into your plans?" I inquired. "Again, quite simple: I told Kronos that impregnating a mortal with his seed might give us a chance for an heir to the throne that was more than capable of restoring us to our former glory; I was quite surprised when Gabriel's mother attacked Kronos and prevented the completion of my plan on that end," Hyperion told me.

"So your overall plan was to use Gabriel as a banner for the Titans to rally upon in the event that Kronos was defeated. But take steps towards making it easier for him while you trained and groomed him for the throne. Pretty complex and sick plan if you ask me and only fit for a god of your cunning," I said. It was true I thought Hyperion was very cunning to have come up with something that would take a crime-scene investigator weeks to figure out.

"Well Hyperion, what makes you certain your plan has not failed?" I asked. "That's a very good question and I developed an excellent course of action to counter any failure. If Kronos died and did not conquer Olympus, then Prometheus would ascend to the throne until Gabriel was ready to accept. Considering that Gabriel has already been indulged in the Olympian path too deeply, I have made Prometheus the permanent head of the renegade Titans.

"Meanwhile, I would manipulate things from the background and see to it that Gabriel and Prometheus both destroy themselves so that I may rule the universe as the sole ruler to be unchallenged and unchecked by all. My mother Gaia even said that had I ruled in Kronos' place she probably would never have challenged it," he answered. Then he added that he had enough of revealing his plans himself and turned to Allie.

Now it was time for a confession and I knew that this was going to be absolutely painful for all of us. After surviving a fall down a hill, fighting against undead soldiers, and having wonderful talks with a normally silent girl… My reward was finding out that she was a traitor in the making and I had fallen right into the hands of those she truly served! It was something that made me want to slap her but my instincts as a child of Athena told me not to do that as I would then be no better than her or the snake Hyperion.


	9. Annabeth: Allie's true colors and a trap

Annabeth: Facing Hyperion's trap and learning Allie's secret association

"For two thousand years, I have prepared for the day when I could at last see Saturn die for betraying Kronos. And it was for two thousand years that I watched as that poor soul realized his mistake in siding with the Olympians. Now Allie, do tell your friend of your true association in this war for your lord and master," Hyperion said. Allie woke up and looked like her memories came flooding back into her head the moment she heard Hyperion's voice speak of her treachery.

"I did not sign up for all of this out of hate for Saturn's Land or even hate for my family. Believe me Annabeth when I say I really like you!" she said. "Then why did you betray your own people and lead the Titans to where they could destroy them?" I asked. "I signed up for being their guide and the one who ultimately undid Saturn's Land out of fear and love," she answered.

I was baffled but I decided it was best to let her continue with it all. "Before he died, my brother Conan had been captured by the Titans and had been subjected to their torture for weeks. Hyperion and this big dude, Atlas I think he was called, negotiated that they would free my brother if I agreed to lead them to Saturn's Land. Hyperion even ordered Atlas to come with me and make sure that I wasn't leading them to the wrong place when I agreed to take them there," Allie explained.

"All of Saturn's Land destroyed simply out of love for a sibling. Such a shame that love is something so usable and is full of utilizations even to someone like myself," Hyperion mocked. "Atlas scared me more than Hyperion did since he was a snake even then and Atlas was a full-fledged god.

"Plus he did display all the powers of a god who could only be beaten on his terms by his master. To this day, Atlas holds me in an iron grip of fear and anguish even now that I have found out that my brother has been killed by the Titans," she said. Her eyes begged me to forgive her for her mistakes but something told me that this was a very cowardly girl who would never have understood when it was best to let go of something for the sake of saving something bigger. "Atlas is dead Allie, did you know that?" I asked her.

Her eyes widened with somewhat of a glimmer of hope in them. It was answer enough for me and proceeded to tell her that Atlas had been killed two weeks ago when he was thrown into the very core of Mount Orthys. The power of it was enough to vaporize his very essence but his power was also enough to destroy the core and bring about an end to Orthys. I ended it by telling her that it had been done by a child of Zeus named Thalia Grace who was also a lieutenant of Artemis and her Hunters.

"Thanks for picking to tell me when Hyperion is next to my foot and has enhanced the cobra venom so that if I betray him now, it could end my life in minutes! Any sooner could have helped me resist him but now I have to wait until I'm separated from him," Allie said. "_If _you are even allowed a chance that is and I am not going to willingly allow a chance for it to happen while you could still betray me," Hyperion assured her. "And if you're so certain we'll never make it out alive, how come we're not surrounded by your forces yet?" I asked.

"How I have already given Epimetheus a beacon of our location. You see, when I was checking Allie's pulse I was healing her to the best ability and simultaneously sending a beacon to any god nearby telling them where I am and who I am with," Hyperion answered. I realized what he meant: it was beacons like that that we're the reason why no demigod in their right mind carried cell phones lest we'd be ringing a dinner bell for the monsters we usually had to escape before reaching Camp Half-Blood and after leaving it. "Epimetheus always stalls like this and the reason is simple: he does not have the willpower of his brother and can only do one thing at a time, meaning that he is probably in the middle of some other tasks unless he sent out a taskforce before going to those other duties," Hyperion added.

"Speak of the devil, I see some soldiers off in the distance coming upriver and along the hill," Allie said. "Ah so Epimetheus was indeed busy in preparation for your demise and Gabriel's capture. Maybe that's what kept him busy for this long," Hyperion rhetorically stated. "Was this all part of your plan too or was it longer than you liked?" I taunted him.

"Careful who you insult young lady for this may not be a trap you can escape from. Surrender now and your life will be painlessly spared to see the reawakening of Saturn as well as his destruction by our hand," Hyperion told me. "If you think you can use me to barter with Gabriel, you're wrong," I said to him. "Young lady, I don't intend to use you as leverage against Gabriel; I have had him captured as well along with Brian," he calmly replied with a chuckle.

That left me confused and wondering one thing: if Gabriel was already captured alongside Brian, then why was I being taken alive? Then I realized that he probably wanted me to see how Saturn would be awakened with the aid of Brian and Gabriel. They would also want me to see them fulfill their vengeance on Saturn before slitting my throat or worse. But I was not about to make my capture easy as I knew Gabriel and Brian certainly didn't.

So I started fighting back and even killed a few of the soldiers before one of them tripped me and made me hit my face in the sand. "I admire your passion Annabeth Chase but I am afraid it will not save you this time. You may have gotten away with having the very blade used to kill Kronos but you will not go unpunished for much longer," Hyperion said to me. At that moment, I knew he had it out for me because of Kronos' death but I wondered how he knew about my blade being the one that killed him.

"Hey Hyperion, how did you know it was my blade that killed Kronos?" I asked. "When his essence was destroyed, we Titans took the moment in like a computer takes in information and we knew everything instantaneously. But in my case, word came to me from my daughter Selene who got it from your mother," Hyperion answered. As I was carried away by one of skeleton soldiers, I began to wonder to myself if there had really been anything in it for me and if I should have stayed with Percy back at Camp.

_Do not give up yet my daughter, you are closer to victory than you think _my mom told me telepathically. _Kind of hard to see how that's possible when I have been captured and now I'm being dragged to see the rebirth and death of a Roman god _I replied. _This is all part of the prophecy that the Fates of yielded in the life of Gabriel and Brian. You will be witness to something greater than you will have ever known in your entire life and that girl Allie will be of help in it _my mother told me.

_Point of order Mom, she has already compromised the rest of the group to Hyperion and Epimetheus. I don't see how she's going to be part of something heroic anymore than I can see how I shouldn't be humiliated about being captured by a punch of skeletons with ease _I snapped. _Trust me my daughter, it will not be as bad as you think it will be _she said to me. _Mom, don't you care that I have been captured by the Titans and am being taken to watch the death of a god? _I asked.

_Of course I care, which is why intervention on the part of Allie will be my doing. She only wanted to save her brother from the Titans and her attachment was too strong for her. Now that Atlas is dead and Hyperion is broken down to the form of a snake, hope remains for her _my mother answered. _How is that possible; I cannot defeat them if Gabriel cannot _I told her.

_Victory favors you my daughter, you just don't see it yet _Athena replied. I didn't try to argue anymore at that point and just simply thanked her for attempting to cheer me up. _This battle is just the beginning of something even greater than you could possibly know. Only by surviving to that something will you prevail in this war against the Titans_ my mother said before departing from my mind.

We had a long walk to go but I made sure to look around and see the foundations of several places that had once been homes, departments of government, a couple schools, and one sewage plant that didn't reek nearly as bad as a sewage plant in New York or Los Angeles. Either they had really good treatment methods that I didn't even know about or it was just that it was overpowered by the smoke and the fire that still continued to burn at what remained of what was probably a glorious city. The part I hated about the Titans was that they were so destructive in their quest for revenge against the Olympians but any time gods warred with each other, mortals were always at risk especially if they were powerful gods like Zeus and his brothers. And now, I was being taken to see a fight aimed specifically at destroying a god for reasons as petty as any that a mortal could think of.

They were destroying Saturn out of revenge and the guy had no means of defending himself against a fellow Titan. We arrived at the location of the statue shortly after climbing all the way back up the hill and walking a ways past the drain that had been my entrance into this hellhole. I was hauled past dead bodies of men, women, and children burned to a crisp by the power of the Titans or brought down by the blades of their soldiers after escaping the blast. Many times, I past by houses with families burned where they last were whether it be in bed with their loved ones or eating and possibly having wonderful times.

Sometimes, I saw women clutching their children around them just before the blast came upon them while their man was away and probably watching in horror before being struck down by these worthless minions that now carried me to my impending doom. Meanwhile, Hyperion was simply biding his time on a pillow that Allie carried near her face as per his orders in case she tried to betray him even now. Suddenly I was thrown off the shoulder of the soldiers carrying me and landed right next to Gabriel and Brian although I don't think I would have said I was happy until I saw them. Brian had already figured out that Allie was the traitor and Gabriel was trying to calm him down and keep him from losing it to the point of trying to murder her.

As for me, all I could really think about was how Percy was doing. There was no way that I could have put myself on the line if I had known this would happen. Now more than ever, I was wishing that Seaweed Brian was here beside me. It would let me be at peace.


	10. Gabriel: Hyperion's plan & Saturn

Gabriel: Epimetheus and Hyperion reveal their ultimate plan and Saturn's return

Well, all I can say right now is that it was nice to see Annabeth again but that was the only nice thing about the occasion. Hyperion had Allie carry him next to Epimetheus, who had forcibly removed the sack containing the Eye of Pandora away from him when we were captured. As for Brian himself, the good thing was that if his one arm had not been bound behind his back he would have been able to reach the Sword of Saturn and call upon the powers of his father to end it. The story of our capture was amusing since it took the lives of nearly two thousand soldiers of the Titans before we finally were brought down by a surprise attack from Epimetheus that struck us from behind.

"Gabriel, son of Saturn's Greek ego and creator Kronos, so glad you could join us for the resurrection and destruction of Saturn himself. It has always been amusing to ask ourselves what was to become of you until now," Hyperion taunted. "If you didn't have my hands tightly tied behind my back, I'd give you two nice birdies and shout 'Fuck you' but then I might be encouraging an insult that would not be avenged," I said back to him. "Bring them both men before the Eyes of Pandora and put the missing one back in on my command," Hyperion ordered.

"Yes sir, shall I unbind their marked hands when we get there?" Epimetheus asked. "Not yet, I want them to know why they have been chosen for this," Hyperion answered. _Oh crap, another rambling from the god whose only goodness is present in his kids _I thought to myself. I wondered how Eos would feel if she found out her dad had been up to no good with me and my friends down on Earth.

Good thing was that she could actually do something about him now that he was broken of most of his power and reduced only to the form of a cobra. "Gabriel, as you may have guessed, your left arm and Brian's right hand together can deflect the lasers that will emit from the Eyes of Pandora long enough for Saturn's revival to begin. You will even be the ones who forced the lasers to reflect back into the Eyes and ignite the rebirth of Saturn," Hyperion began. "That's why when we order it, your marked hands will be freed but only to reflect the lasers from these powerful jewels," Epimetheus interrupted.

Disregarding that last outburst from Epimetheus, Hyperion continued unfolding his complex plan relating to Saturn. "As you know, Saturn betrayed your father and attempted to murder him in the process of freeing himself from the duty of being his Roman ego. Ever since that day, two thousand years ago, we Titans have been planning to take our revenge against Saturn and decided to start with his children before destroying the god. We figured that we needed to destroy his spirit before we destroyed him physically ourselves," he explained.

"Why would his spirit be broken by the death of his children if they were the ones who fought and imprisoned him?" Brian asked. "That is the public story and the public lie that Beowulf and Saturn agreed to issue. The real story behind why Saturn was contained here is entirely different," Hyperion answered. Interested, I decided to pay close heed to this and see if this would effect how Saturn would act when he was resurrected.

"Saturn felt that his children needed to have some sort of reprieve from the Roman egos of the gods of Olympus. He decided that he would be sealed in a statue made in his image by Beowulf the Great in exchange for protecting his children in Mist so thick that even the mightiest of the Olympians could not see through without consent. It was his last wish that his children remain safe from any threat from the Romans but he didn't count on any Greek deities attacking them. Besides possibly Diana, the Roman deities have pretty much forgotten about Saturn and would not mourn or celebrate his death if they found out about it.

"But when we Titans kill him and finish with you, we will be celebrating gloriously. It will be far better than anything that any mortal country on Earth from America to China could conduct. This is where you meet your doom but are blessed to see Epimetheus make his first true kill in this war," Hyperion concluded. Now I knew why it was that they brought Epimetheus along and why they wanted to bring back Saturn.

They wanted Epimetheus to kill a powerful deity and take some glory for himself. I truly felt sorry for Epimetheus but Hyperion was really beginning to piss me off more than ever before. "Your hatred for me grows with every moment, good. Such a shame that it has been rendered useless by the bonds that hold you hostage and the fact that soon such hatred will no longer matter," Hyperion taunted.

Then he ordered Epimetheus to plunge the missing Eye of Pandora into the socket where it belonged. "Soon, it will no longer matter what you do for Saturn will die by our hands," Hyperion said. "Hyperion underestimates the curse we put on Saturn before he was sealed away. Allie and I both know of it since we used to lead the children of Saturn and were required to know about it," Brian whispered to me.

"What curse?" I asked. "Saturn cannot be killed unless one of his children willingly lays down their lives as sacrifice to him. Then another one with a mark like mine must absorb his essence into his or her body in order to contain him. Beowulf the Great refused to do this and that's why he was confined to the statue," Brian answered.

"So what's your big plan?" I inquired. This curse idea was interesting and though it wouldn't be long before we were shot at by the lasers, I had the feeling that Brian had an idea in mind. "I'll lose the Sword of Saturn once my father awakens completely since it was originally his weapon. So can you see if you can distract Hyperion and Allie long enough for me to get a weapon off one of the soldiers once this is over with?" he asked.

I nodded then the lasers shot out at us, faster than any normal human could react. On my end, the laser shot into my left hand and the golden mark began to expand up my arm as it was supposed to do whenever it absorbed magic. Brian received his laser on the mark that was embedded on the palm of his hand. For a little while, we both just held the lasers right where they were since they were too strong for us to anything about.

Then an idea came to my head and I told Brian to push with me on the count of three. "Remember, if both lasers are deflected simultaneously Saturn will be resurrected," I told him. He nodded and I counted just before we simultaneously made the push and reflected the lasers back to their source of emission. Now the resurrection of Saturn would begin and the last thing we saw before blazing bright light made us turn away was the stone of the statue crumbling and breaking off as well as Brian's sword flying out of its scabbard.

It grew in size until it fit perfectly in Saturn's hand and transformed into a sickle but we didn't see that it had changed shape until after the light passed over us. "Hey Gabe, another part to the curse you should know," Brian shouted. "What is it now?" I asked. "Upon resurrection, Saturn would shrink until he was the same size as you or me!" Brian answered.

Sure enough, blue lightning came over Saturn and began to shrink him down to the size of a human being. He was still noticeably taller than even I was and shouted at all of us. "Who dares to awaken me and show me that my land has been destroyed?" he asked. "Oh dear Saturn, it is I the lord Hyperion who dares to use these two children here to awaken you to a destroy town," Hyperion answered.

"You dare to do this you little talking snake?" Saturn boomed. "I'm afraid so and do permit to say that I dare to send the brother of Prometheus, Epimetheus, to destroy you. Shall we then my dear friend?" Hyperion said before turning to his fellow Titan for confirmation. "With pleasure my lord," Epimetheus replied.

Epimetheus attacked and Saturn dodged, too surprised by the speed of the Titan's spear to do anything else. After dodging the stab, Saturn took his sickle and hacked at Epimetheus horizontally from the shoulder to the waist. The Titan deflected all these blows and Saturn deflected of dodged all of Epimetheus' attempts to take his life. "Saturn, remember the curse that you can only be killed by a child of yours willingly lying down their lives by your blade!" Brian shouted.

Smiling Saturn thanked his son for that tip and proceeded to attack Epimetheus with an even harder vengeance than I had ever seen. Strangely enough, Saturn's sword whistled past me but cut deep enough at my shackles for me to free myself. I reached for the Sky Sword and used its power to throw the remains of the statue at Epimetheus and Hyperion. Epimetheus destroyed them whenever he wasn't focused on fighting Saturn but it was when Saturn took a good look at the ruins of his children's homeland that things really got out of hand.

"Um Brian, I think you might want to drag your butt back over here and tell me if what I'm looking at is good or bad," I said to Brian as I watched Saturn swell with rage. By that time, Brian had finally gotten a sword off one of the soldiers since the rest were too distracted with the duel between Saturn and Epimetheus to notice him. "Um Gabriel, I get the feeling that by the look on Saturn's face it would be wise to assume that that's not good," Brian said. I nodded in agreement and that was just before we saw Saturn turn his sickle into a two-handed sword and heard him bellow a battle cry filled with bloodthirsty rage.

He rose it over his head and Epimetheus rose to his own defense by raising his spear to deflect the sword. I was too full of surprise to help Epimetheus even when I attempted to raise the Sky Sword again in his defense. Brian told me to not do so that we could see what happened as a result of Saturn's anger. What we saw was Saturn slicing the spear in half then cutting each half into smaller pieces, starting with the severing of the sharp edges on each side.

After that he took Epimetheus by the throat with his left hand and spun around to throw him on the ground beneath his feet. It ended when Saturn thrust his sword at Epimetheus, who grabbed it and held his own for a long time. He even managed to push it fully away from him before Saturn quickly recovered and thrust it again at a speed Epimetheus couldn't stop it. The sword plunged into Epimetheus' chest and even penetrated his heart deep enough to cause internal bleeding in humans.

Even for a god, that's a fatal spot because now Epimetheus would die but then I realized something. Hyperion didn't exactly cared who lived and who died as long as he had enough power to make himself whole again! He only wanted to see Saturn dead and use his power to become whole because it would fit in with his lust for revenge against the Roman god as well as the damage he had already done. "For your treason against the former king of the Roman gods, I take your power and use it to destroy your armies!" Saturn yelled.

"Uh I don't know about you Brian but I think it's time to get Annabeth and find cover. Let's do it while we still can!" I shouted. Brian nodded and ran with me to where Annabeth was and freed her with his spare sword. All three of us ran after that and decided to hide behind some rocks in the hills not too far from where the statue had once been. The blue wave of energy past over us and I was surprised to see that we were all still alive in spite of the fact that the wave had vaporized all the skeleton soldiers that had been within range of it.

At least twenty thousand undead soldiers were destroyed in that blast but that wasn't the worst part. The worst part was that Saturn had only taken as much power as he needed and we discovered that what remained was being absorbed by Hyperion. Allie gently put him down as he began to absorb the remaining power within the deceased Epimetheus and change first from a snake into a tiny human then grow until he was the size of the average human being. At first he was naked but he soon fixed that by recreating a suit of golden armor that resembled what he had worn when he battled me along with a flowing cape hung up by the shoulders.

Then two curved short swords appeared into his hands like before and his laugh at having become whole filled the air. Quickly, I told Annabeth and Brian to duck as I did the same just in time for an overwhelming amount of bright light took our view of everything away. "The power of the light courses through me again; at last I, Hyperion, am lord of the light once again!" he shouted. Then the lights went out and we were capable of seeing everything again and climbed slowly out of our hiding place.

"Thank you Allie for your service to me while I was trapped in that _pitiful _state of existence. Now I demand only one more task of you: destroy those three fools over there while I take care of your father. Do not worry, the Fates have already deemed me victorious in this battle against him," he told her. She nodded and turned to face us before unsheathing her swords and approaching us once more.

Her steps were slow and showed reluctance as she came close to us before anger and guilt overwhelmed her. The battle cry that came from her lungs was like no other I had heard from a daughter of Saturn as she charged blindly forward. I rose to met the challenge but Brian blocked me with his remaining arm and shook his head at me. When Annabeth tried, I stopped her and told her that this was Brian's challenge and not ours.

"If I may so before you go to face her, could somehow persuade her to be on our side?" I whispered into his ear. "How? As long as Hyperion remains as powerful as he is, there's no way we could persuade her to fight against us," he whispered back. "Hello, why do you think she swore allegiance to him in the first place?" I reminded him.

Then his mind went and did its own thing, thinking about precisely how to do what I asked him. I would realize that he would not get her on our side so much as make her use her loyalty to Hyperion to our advantage. Though I myself was fit to be a general, Brian was pretty skilled at such persuasion. After all, it's the reason we nicknamed him the "Sneaky Little Fox" back when he and I were training under Perseus, years ago.


	11. Gabriel:Showdown with Hyperionsacrifice

Gabriel: One of the greatest sacrifices I ever witnessed in my life and my final battle with Hyperion

Brian managed to stop Allie from continuing her attack and I watched as they talked for a little bit. Then Allie turned around and headed to supposedly attack Saturn but that's what was interesting. We got closer and realized that Allie was trying to taunt Saturn into killing her. "Kill me father, I betrayed your children to their deaths and I deserve to die for it!" she yelled.

"Allie, I told you to deal with those fools back there and you better do it! Now before I get mad and decide to vaporize you!" Hyperion ordered. "Enough of this nonsense, I will destroy Hyperion because you fail to heed the curse that only the sacrifice of one of my children will destroy me!" Saturn shouted before lunging for Hyperion yet again. Allie got in the way once more and held her own against her father to the growing frustration of her master. "What are you doing, young fool?" Saturn asked.

"Trying to get you to kill me as punishment for my betrayal!" Allie answered. Saturn pushed her out of the way and said that he would not kill her but would proceed to destroy Hyperion. Then I held my breath as time seemed to slow down and Saturn lunged for a surprised Hyperion. Surprised at the fact that Allie was so ready to lay down her life for him or anyone else and curious if it was the latter.  
>Brian, Annabeth, and I came racing down the hill to see if we could somehow save Hyperion but Allie took care of that for us. We stopped as we saw her jump in front of Saturn's sword and take the blow for her master. Blood splashed all over Saturn's face, sword, and hand if it didn't stain a little of Hyperion's breastplate. Hyperion show no remorse as he sheathed the swords and walked away, having failed to destroy Saturn himself and knowing these was nothing that could be done to stop the curse now.<p>

But I was determined to stop him and used the power of the Sky Sword to electrocute him enough to get his attention. "You still have your little grudge with me, remember? You can still walk away with _a _victory if you have the guts to avenge your defeat last time," I taunted. Then I told Annabeth and Brian to leave me to deal with Hyperion alone so that it was fair on the good Titan of light.

"I have never forgotten what you did to me and I have never forgotten my vow to destroy you! After that, I will have to discipline the naughty little wench that used to be my beautiful Eos myself," Hyperion replied. "How has she been naughty when she has expressed love for me even before we fought each other in that first battle? Besides, as far as I can tell, you weren't the one who stood by her side when her heart had been broken by your betrayal," I asked.

"You will die for that insolent remark!" Hyperion shouted before charging at me with both swords facing me. The swords were slashing at me before long in the same direction but I was able to deflect it all with the Sky Sword. While Hyperion and I fought, it started to rain all around us and I knew I had an advantage over Hyperion here. If he tried to use his light against me, I could count on lightning being directed by the Sky Sword to strike him where his powers would be useless: his eyes.

"You know Hyperion, remember last time how I defeated you by stabbing you in the ass with one of my knives? Do you still have the scar?" I asked. It was just meant to taunt him and get him to where I had a position of advantage over him. "If you're trying to say that I am every bit as weak as I was the day you did that then you are sorely mistaken," he told me.

I smiled in my mind and I knew that he was taking the bait of my trick. "Oh so how are you going to prove that you much stronger than you were that day?" I asked. I knew that that would be more than enough to get him going and here's the reason I said his eyes were the source of his power. Whenever he hah the bright light come out, it had always the eyes always glowed bright even if he rose his hand and the light emitted from his hand instead.

I was willing to gamble that there was a connection between Hyperion and the light itself that could only be cut if I blinded him. "Feel the awesome power of the light itself!" he yelled. I shielded my eyes with my arm and just knew that the light would be too bright to aim clearly so I telepathically told the powers of the skies to aim a lightning bolt at his eyes. To my surprise, it worked because a few seconds later saw Hyperion cry out in pain and the turn off the light so I could face him.

"I may no longer be connected to my power as the god of light but I am still a god and therefore, still a formidable match," Hyperion warned. "Better that you fight me with no power over the light than otherwise. Besides, Helios was always one who appreciated a fair fight between two or more opponents," I told him. Despite having been hit in the eyes with lightning, he fought as though he could still see and I didn't doubt he could.

We fought over the edge of a cliff and kept out fight their just slashing and hacking at each other in spite of that normally requiring movement. Hyperion and I exchanged no words as we fought over the cliff and saw that down below had been a plant where steel had been produced and a pool of molten steel lay down there for whoever fell in. That immediately gave me an idea that I knew was going to work if Hyperion was willing to follow with the rhythm of the duel. I rose my sword over my head to slice him in two and gripped it very loosely so that my idea could begin taking root.

Hyperion followed my movement and used a scissor-like movement with his blades to knock the Sky Sword out of my hands. I smiled outward and inward but he didn't notice the external smile because he was wheeling around to hack me down the same way with both blades. In my head, I was telling Eos to forgive me for the death of her father and waited a little bit for a reply. _Gabriel, I no longer have love for Hyperion; he is not my father anymore so feel free to destroy him _she replied to me.

Something about the way she said it bothered me but I didn't ask her what was up. Then I snapped Hyperion's wrist and pushed him down onto his hindquarters, which landed just on the edge of the cliff. Surprised, he did nothing except raise his remaining sword to his defense as I raised the one I stole and brought it down with enough force to break the rock at Hyperion's feet and send him falling into the pool of molten metal. When I knew he was not doing anything to escape from his fate, I threw the sword I had stolen aside and it clanged before falling into the pit with its original owner.

I recovered the Sky Sword just in time to see the essence of Hyperion scattered to the four winds in a destructive fashion and went to check on Brian. When I saw him again, he was holding the dying Allie in his remaining arm and she was coughing on her own blood. Saturn moped in the background about having cut down his own daughter although she had gotten in his way and did nothing to escape what was to happen next. Allie's head bent back after a while and far enough to where I knew she was dead but that was not the end for her just yet.

A blue light began to glow and I realized that her power and what would have been her life force were joining together in one great power. I told Annabeth to stand back as this was probably going to get ugly before long but instead, something better happened. Her power formed a laser beam that cut into Saturn's heart, exposing his essence to anything that could destroy it… or absorb it. "I sacrifice my mark in exchange for a new arm designed only to contain within my body the essence of Saturn himself!" Brian shouted.

His mark on the palm of his right hand glowed brighter than it had ever done before and I watched as the golden orbs of Saturn's essence flew toward the mark and vanishing as soon as they touched it. In no time, Brian was absorbing the power of Saturn at a rate I had never seen him absorb any power before this day. "I think that things might actually start improving from here on out," I said. And things were indeed looking better than I originally thought they would be considering that I had finally destroyed Hyperion once and for all, seen Allie lay down her life to see what Brian was presently doing, and saving what remained of Saturn's Land.

When Brian was nearing the finish of absorbing the very essence of Saturn into himself, Saturn's body began to age and rot faster than any other body I had seen before. Oceanus' body did not start decomposing nearly as fast nor turned to bleach-white bones in practically the blink of an eye. A bright light came over us but not like Hyperion's where it was impossible to see anything with or without sunglasses but if hurt our eyes all the same. After the light passed over us, I saw Brian's hand and noticed that the mark was gone and I asked if he was fine.

"Actually I've never felt better in my entire life for some bizarre reason," he said. But that was before I saw him grimace in pain and place his hand over the stump that used to be his left arm. After that he was making every effort not scream in pain and I told him to lie down while the transfer happened. However, that did nothing to relieve the pain he was going through as his stump opened up and the missing bone started to grow out of it.

Annabeth planted her face deep into my shoulder and tried her best to cover her ears from the screams of pain that came out when his efforts to hold them in failed. It was almost unbearable to watch my friend go through this and I wondered why he even chose to go through with it. The bone finished regenerating but that did nothing to even numb the pain that Brian was going through in this process of using his new arm to contain Saturn's essence. I did the best I could to calm him down while Annabeth just simply covered her ears and tried her best not to hear the screams.

It gave somewhat of a reprieve when the blood was coming over the bone but picked up again when veins and nerves were growing on his arm and hand. That was the quickest part and the only things that were nearly as quick was the rebirth of the muscle and cartilage in his arm. It finally ended when skin came over but it was black and red with fingernails that were replaced by black claws. I looked at the finished project just before a blast of purple light solidified that this was the real deal and not just some fake the gods could take away at any time.

For a few moments, Brian could think of nothing but the pain even when I recognized that it had long since passed. But when he didn't he was changed forevermore by it's existence on his body.


	12. Gabriel: Saying goodbye to Brian

Gabriel: Parting ways with Brian and returning to Camp

Brian recovered at a relatively impressive pace and was on his feet before long. That was fine with me because I had seen him in so much more pain than I had ever seen in my entire life and practically had a heart attack right there. The creepy thing about his recovery was how he would play with his arm as though he were making sure it wasn't its own creature. To be honest, I would not have cared if it was just as long as Brian was alive and almost completely well again for the hard part of our journey: saying goodbye.

I had known Brian for the better portion of a decade and now it was time to make the goodbye that told you that you may never see the person in question again. Brian had a culture to restore and I had a camp of demigods to return to before our own war was waged with Prometheus. "How does that thing feel to you Brian, weird?" I asked. He chuckled and said that it was different from having the arm that Hyperion had bitten in the form of a snake.

"What will you do with the body of Allie? She betrayed Saturn's Land yes but she made amends for it in the end through her sacrifice," Annabeth asked. "I'll give her a proper Roman funeral and go around doing that with the other corpses in Saturn's Land. Assuming there's anything left for a funeral for those thousands of corpses that is," Brian answered.

"I wish we didn't have to go our separate ways, I really enjoy the conversations we have together," Annabeth said. That reminded me of one they had where Brian made fun of himself and his missing arm to her amusement. He even went as far as to use his stump as a puppet and fake having it talk to reply to her laughter. "Have you considered taking on ventriloquism?" she had asked.

I knew he had and he nodded upon her asking him that question, showing his honesty in that aspect. "But I left it after I became Supreme Archbishop of Saturn's Land," he added. She seemed a little saddened by that and asked if there were a whole lot of responsibilities but that's beside the point. Presently, she was asking Brian if he wanted to keep the donkey and a horse for himself so that he could survive the wait for the rest of his people.

Previously, we had found the Horn of Beowulf the Great and had used it. If there were any survivors, it would not be longer than a few days before they started to trickle in. "What will you do with Allie's body?" Annabeth asked. "Give it a proper funeral as she deserves for her final sacrifice in life," Brian answered.

"You are a very benevolent man Brian, that's a rare characteristic these days. Especially here in America if you get my meaning," she said with a smile. Brian laughed but it was short and somewhat dry but I did find it funny myself. He started immediately on preparing a funeral for her and I had to admit that he did a fine job setting up a pyre from wood and bits of rocks.

"She will have a request for a peaceful afterlife put in for her. It's the least I can give her for the goodness that she intended to do. Most people betray their homelands and clan out of greed, selfishness, ambition, or all of them but she did it out of love," he explained. I nodded and helped him light it on fire with a lightning bolt created by the Sky Sword when he was ready and he thanked me for that.

"And now my old friend, we must part ways for at least this moment," I said. "We have already parted ways once and that one time makes it hard for me to realize we're doing it again," Brian said. "It's hard on me too buddy but at some point, there comes a time when we must forsake what we want for what is right. No it's not always fair but who said life is always fair, right?" I replied.

Brian nodded in agreement and rose his new left hand to me for a final handshake. I laughed, getting the picture, and shook his hand with my golden left hand the way soldiers in the army do. "Goodbye Gabriel, son of Kronos, I owe you one," Brian said while our hands remained clasped. "Don't worry, it was a blast and that is good enough for this demigod," I said and we both knew that was true.

"Oh Gabriel, if you happen to become a god I will make sure to dedicate at least one temple to you when we get a safe location. You have been a good friend and I'd hate to lose you forever," Brian told me. "I don't blame you bud but don't worry, I'm gambling that we'll see each other before too long," I said back. As I said that I watched as his black skin shined against the sun and I knew that it would be time to go back to Camp soon.

"Gabriel, your horse is ready whenever you are," Annabeth told me. "Hey Brian, one more thing before I forget. Keep this, you may need it along the way to that safe haven you seek," I told him. After that I fished a coin out of my pocket and told him its properties.

"But this is your lucky coin, I can't take this. What about those old superstitions about bad luck when you give your talisman to someone else?" Brian asked. "I assure you that compared to where you may be going, those will be just Mother Goose stories," I answered. "Good comparison," Annabeth said.

"Gabriel, can I have a word with you in private before you go?" Brian asked. I nodded and told Annabeth to simply wait for my return from the "private word" with Brian. When we were far enough away from Annabeth, Brian surprised me with what he said next. "Remember when I met Nadine?" he asked.

I nodded and it was true, I did remember that day very well. "On that day… I don't know how to say this but I guess we fell in love with one another. She told me she would not leave you though and said that you were a very tortured soul. Those twins of hers that you thought were yours… they were actually mine," he said.

How was that possible because I distinctly remembered bonking Nadine before I left her. I even asked him how it was possible and he said that according to her, she had used pills on me in case I ever left her. "She told me she only wanted my offspring and had me pray to the gods that you be told they were yours instead," Brian added. I didn't know how to take that any way except the way that I could.

"When did you impregnate her?" I asked. "A day or two after you left by Hera's order. Please, do not feel anger for her, if anyone you should be mad at me for hiding it from you. She loved you too but it was a love more like that between friends than between wife and husband," Brian answered.

"I am not angry at her or you Brian, you were only doing what you had to comfort her," I told him. It was true, I felt no anger at him but rage at Hera for making me desert Nadine and forcing them to this. Brian could tell probably from how my face looked and said no more besides goodbye. "You're my best friend Brian and you always will be; from here on, just do what you feel is right even if it's not what's necessary," I said then Annabeth and I left through ruins of Saturn's Land for good.


	13. Annabeth: Talking to Gabe about Brian

Annabeth: Talking to Gabriel about Brian

The way Brian looked after we began leaving the ruins of Saturn's Land behind us and following the dirt road back to civilization had me on edge. At first, we never spoke although we probably both had many thoughts racing through our minds. Mine were on how to explain my adventure to Percy and reluctantly let him see my deep disappointment. I had gone seeking information on how the people of Saturn's Land built their facilities but I left only with info on how it was destroyed and why.

For me, bittersweet was how you could describe this victory in my opinion and probably in Gabriel's as well. Gabriel's head was sloped down forward and I could see that he was not exactly in the talking mood. But when push comes to shove, sometimes you have to force it out of someone. Especially when you're surprise to see their eyes release a few tears just hours after leaving.

"What's wrong, do you want to talk?" I asked. At first, it seemed as if he would or if he even could for that matter. Then he wiped away his tears and calmed himself long enough to tell me what was troubling him. When I thought it was just the fact that he was leaving Brian to fend for himself once again, I soon realized that was the least of it.

"Brian dragged me away from you to tell me that I had been deceived by the gods on Nadine. Deceived so that I wouldn't feel even worse about Hera forcing me to leave her than I already did," Gabriel began. I was utterly shocked that he would say something like that but I knew it was necessary to get him to continue. "When I found out she was pregnant with twins, I was told that I was the father but that was far from the truth: Brian was the father, not me," he said.

"How did that happen?" I asked. "From what Brian has confessed to me, he and Nadine fell in love when I first introduced them to one another during the early days of my service to Hera. Though she and I made love, she had used the pill and had instead gotten Brian's seed into her body just a day or so after I reluctantly left to return to Hera's service," he answered. "So who told you that you were the father and he wasn't?" I inquired.

"She did and I had others confirm it to me, others who would know of such things. But I never realized that Hera would bring about her death through her actions against me and allowing me to be mislead by the deception," he explained. "I am so sorry Gabriel, I wish there was something I could do besides say that I do kind of hate Hera," I said. Although I had given up my feud with her when she swore to give up her grudge, I still did hate her for the way she treated members of her own family.

I guess you could say I had never quite gotten over the fact that she was the one who threw the poor Hephaestus down to Earth when he was just an infant. Now this was more than enough to enrage me and make me wish to yell at the goddess that she was a bitch. She was the goddess of marriage yet she had allowed this adultery against her own half-brother only to kill her and her children whilst she was giving birth to them later. I wondered why Zeus selected her to be his wife when she treated people this way, especially if they were related to her or her immediate family.

"Ever since that day when she forced me to abandon the only source of peace and comfort I had known until Eos and I fell for each other, I have dreamed of the day when I will destroy Prometheus and become a god because then I would be more than powerful enough to make Hera pay for what she did with no harm to myself. Zeus forgive me for this desire to attack your wife but she _did _take away the first bit of personal peace that I had ever known," he said. "Well, Brian is a leader now and so are you plus you two are still friends, am I right?" I asked. He nodded yes and I told him that he should not worry about Brian or his ex-wife for that matter.

"I am not angry at either of them but I am enraged at Hera for having brought us to this. Still, I think if it weren't for her you and I would not be having this conversation and probably would not have even met," he said. I giggled and I said that I was glad to have a mortal uncle, even going as far as to call him the best family member that I had ever had in my life. "Let's change the subject now to something a little happier although I'm not done talking about Brian," he requested.

"Okay, you want to know about the time Brian and I took a little endeavor to a nearby restaurant when we had not even begun to reach the mountains?" I asked. He smiled and said that he would love to hear how they had pulled that off without himself or Allie knowing. "Well, as you may know, Brian had this way of making himself and those immediately beside him invisible for a few moments. He used that long enough for us to get out of your sight and then we walked to a nearby restaurant and ordered quite the feast for ourselves," I answered.

"Now that's not so bad although I think I might have been forced to confessing the time Brian and I tried to steal a golden apple from Hera's garden. The nymphs fell for Brian's charm just like that while I went to get one but that accursed dragon of hers kept me from even getting close," he said with a smile. "Let me guess, the charm failed as soon as the nymphs heard the roar of the dragon," I said. He nodded and added that Zeus was madder than hell although he decided to let us off the hook that time.

"What of Brian's fate right now? Will he know for sure if anyone besides himself survived the destruction of his city?" I asked. "Yeah, that horn can be heard the world over by those from Saturn's Land and/or are relations to Saturn in some way. If there is anyone besides him, they will have heard the call and will know to come to Saturn's Land before he leaves," Gabriel said.

"Will it be a dangerous journey to this new location?" I asked, curious about the way Brian's destiny was going to be shaped. "Most likely but the only way to know that for sure is to be a god or goddess and know what the Fates have foretold for a person," Gabriel said, immediately satisfying my worries about Brian. "He mentioned something about having had to say goodbye before when we talked alone, do you know what he means by that?" I inquired.

"The first time we had to part, it was for missions that our trainer gave us in order to enhance our skills beyond the training arena on Olympus. After that there were two more, one in the same manner as before and the third when we completed our training to the limit. This is the fourth time that we have had to say goodbye and will probably be the worst for both of us," he explained. "At least you have the chance of seeing each other again in some small way: Iris messages if he's still around to give them after his," I said.

"Brian is a good friend and I will miss him dearly like I would a brother I have come to know. Tell you the truth, he's been more of a brother to me in just the few years we've known each other than the Big Three have been in my entire life. The only one who comes close to Chiron and you know how shaky that can be," he replied. Satisfied that I had cheered him up, I nodded and ended the conversation by thanking him for this wonderful conversation that we had had.


	14. Thalia: Artemis' new mission for us

Thalia: Artemis has a new mission for the recovered Hunters and me

For the past two or three weeks, my Hunters had been nursing their pride from that fateful match with Gabriel. I had already recovered three times over but they had not been as quick until now. Now, Artemis was appearing to me in a vision during the darkest hours of the night and she looked hurried. "My lady, what is it that you request of us in these late hours and in our sleep?" I asked.

"I have a new assignment for you, one that will benefit Camp Half-Blood in this fight against Prometheus' regime. It will be dangerous but the rewards will be more than enough for the other Hunters to recover their pride from the fight against Gabriel," she explained. "I'm listening," I said. Yes, I was listening because there was nothing else to do in my sleep besides that right at that minute.

"I wish for you all to fan out and see if you can find the hideout of Prometheus. It will be a great thing for Gabriel to know and any additional information will be most useful in your fight against him," Artemis explained. "But how can we do something like that when everybody else has failed?" I asked. "You're Hunters of Artemis, you're trained to do these things and besides, it will probably have some glory in it for you all," Artemis answered.

"Yeah, glory in slaying who knows how many skeleton soldiers and _maybe _a few really powerful monsters here or there," I replied. "I assure you there will be enough action for the Hunters of Artemis to redeem themselves. Phoebe would be quick to pounce on this opportunity if she were in your place," Artemis said. That was cold, I knew it and to explain briefly Artemis and I were not exactly on the best of terms right now considering that her desire was only to have me be a Hunter until the time of the prophecy passed.

I had wanted to stay in service longer and Artemis agreed until I saw Gabriel defeat the Hunters with ease. That day gave Artemis a sense of mistrust in my leadership when it was Phoebe who had made the first shot. I even told Artemis that in my report and now I have gotten the firm suspicion that she suspected I was bad for not preventing Phoebe from starting a confrontation. Either that or it was because in spite of my efforts, I let a man beat down our group and I was a bad example of Artemis' idea of female superiority.

Oh well, I thought about all that and I began to wonder if in different ways women and men were equal and Artemis was just being a bitch. I'm sorry but I guess I am kind of a maverick to the ways of the goddess. One of my things about her ways was that men weren't all bad, just that some were and I have evidence to back that up. But when you're dealing with a goddess that's thousands of years old, you might as be talking to a steel wall for I could help it.

At any rate, I kept her word in mind and talked to Annabeth the following morning about her mission in case there was anything useful. "For one thing, Hyperion was the one behind all while trapped in the form of a cobra (the gods let him escape with some of his power in exchange for his freedom from the tree then Gabriel took the rest to reduce him to such a small form). Epimetheus helped him so I guess that Prometheus knew about it too, which seemed reasonable even to Gabriel," she began. "What's happened to Epimetheus if Hyperion is dead and this Saturn's Land has been destroyed?" I asked.

"That's not the only thing we found when we got there," Annabeth answered. She went into every last detail about the mission except for a few she said Gabriel wanted confidential, between her and him. When I found out about Brian containing the essence of Saturn in exchange for a regenerated arm, I kind of felt sorry for the boy. She even told me that before leaving, Epimetheus had been killed by Saturn for them to see and Hyperion had used his power to regenerate back into the god of light that he had once been.

This all took place after she returned from her mission with Gabriel and I had to wait another two days before I could take off for the mission. Overall, I got that Hyperion and Epimetheus were both dead in their attempt to assassinate Saturn, Saturn himself was confined to the regenerated arm of one of his own children, and we had scored a decisive victory in spite of Allie's treacherous part in it. When I told Phoebe about the new mission, she was overjoyed just as Artemis had predicted to me during the dead of night. "Why don't we go now?" she asked.

"Because I need as much information from Annabeth and/or form Gabriel about their mission as I can get. Better for us to have a start on the hunt for Prometheus than just to blunder on and miss what could be a potential clue," I answered. "You are always so nervous to start these hunts, why is that?" she inquired. "I'm not nervous, I'm alert for something to come that will lead to a more decisive conclusion in the hunting of the subject in question," I told her.

Most of the Hunters overhearing the conversation agreed on that matter and it was brought to a swift conclusion. "See what I mean? You blundered and it cost you the argument whereas I carefully researched my facts and used them to verbally cut you down," I told her. Hey, just because I'm a daughter of Zeus doesn't mean I know everything and am wiser than Athena for crying out loud!

I was glad that Chiron approved of us leaving and he had somewhat of an idea where Prometheus may be. "The Rocky Mountains have been an epicenter for the powers of both the Olympians and the Titans. Continue forward from here and you go into the domain of the Titans and vice versa. The mountains that Prometheus had been chained to were once that same way so I believe that the Caucasus mountains he was contained in have probably moved with the rest of us," Chiron explained.

"That will be a good starting place even if he isn't there, it will be best to try that. My only worry is if the Rockies would be big enough to support an army that could assault Camp Half-Blood," I said. "If he spread them over the entire mountain range that is more than likely but he will probably want his soldiers closer to him rather than spread thinly across an entire mountain range," Chiron agreed. "Then why search for the Rocky Mountains with that being said?" Phoebe asked.

"Because with Prometheus you never know, it's impossible to predict someone who already knows what's destined to happen up to centuries before it does. He probably foresaw this very conversation if his power to see the future extends to cover many people," I answered. Chiron nodded in agreement and suggested that I move with the information that Annabeth provided when she returned the next day. After that we were off and I never realized how soon we would be returning to camp for the battle against the Titan Prometheus. We would be back very soon indeed and we would be ready for it all or so I told myself when our expedition began.


	15. Percy: Annabeth returns and Nico revives

Percy: Gabriel and Annabeth's return to Camp and Nico's return to consciousness

The first bit of good news on my part is almost too good to be true. Just hours before Gabriel and Annabeth returned, Nico returned to consciousness. I was coming to check on him as I usually did after one of the nurses came down to maintain the cabin for him. During my visit, he suddenly began to move and even groan in pain although he had yet to fully awaken.

I called everyone I could reach over to the cabin to see Nico's awakening from the sleep he fell into after helping in the assault on Mount Orthys. "Hey Nico, you're almost there! Come back to us, come on buddy!" I was begging. He finally came through and it was indeed worthy of celebration on top of Gabriel and Annabeth's victorious return.

"Hey Chiron, let's prepare a feast for them with all the calories they'll need after their journeys. Nico will especially need it coming back from a two-week coma," Connor Stoll of the Hermes cabin suggested. "Yeah, why doesn't anybody listen to me or my brother when we make these cool suggestions?" his brother Travis asked. Then the horn blew that signaled the return of Annabeth and Gabriel, a sound that washed all worry out of me for any of my friends.

I ran ahead of everybody to be the first to greet them when they came through the gate. Gabriel shook my hand whereas Annabeth took it and kissed it before continuing through the line in the parade. "Hey, they have returned victorious; this calls for a celebration double time!" Clarisse of the Ares cabin shouted. For once, I agreed with her and I was not thinking she had barely half a brain like her father still does.

Chiron called everyone to the dining pavilion and we knew that he had had something planned ever since the news came that Annabeth and Gabriel would be returning soon. Normally, it was never allowed that members of different cabins sat with each other but because Gabriel had won a unofficial but real victory for us tonight was an exception. I sat with Annabeth along with Gabriel and Nico while Chiron stood in the background with Mr. D, possibly talking about things that were transpiring on Mount Olympus. These days, it was quite typical to see the two of them talking alone after camp hours and it was a shame that nobody thought to ask about what they were talking about before I asked what they were talking about.

"Perseus Jackson, how dare you ask us to reveal confidential information to you!" Chiron shouted. "Yeah Peter Johnson, leave us be," Mr. D said, doing that irritatingly deliberate routine of forgetting my name. "Thank you both for your time although I think Gabriel is not going to be too happy when he hears about this," I said. That was meant to get them scared but surprisingly, it did not work at all this time or if it did they certainly did not show it.

I went back to sit down with my friends and had an awesome time at it. Who would have thought that being under the vigilance for war could have its fun side to it huh? But Annabeth's hand kept colliding over mine and I knew she was trying to ask for something. I turned to her and asked what it was that she wanted to request of me and I was about ready to do anything considering I had not seen her in four days and it felt like four years.

"Let's go to your cabin after the final festivities have been played out. I have an excellent surprise waiting for you at the end of it all," she said with a smile. Gabriel overheard her and laughed briefly because to my shock, he already knew what she meant. "When you two are at your cabin tonight, you'll find out what luck is waiting for you," he replied.

Chiron had prepared a firework celebration at the Firework Cliffs, overlooking Long Island Sound. Gabriel was alone at the far edge of the cliff whereas Annabeth and I were in the best view of the fireworks as he had arranged for us. "You two deserve it, especially after the part Annabeth played at Saturn's Land," he explained. "Thank you Gabriel, you have been a great uncle to us both if not to us all," Annabeth told him.

"Hey, I still don't like Uncle Gabe and keep in mind that I still feel like I haven't earned the title in the eyes of the Camp yet. Yes I have been making improvements by the ton while Chiron sat in the background but that doesn't change anything," he said. Annabeth's dress was the silliest thing of all since it was an old Greek toga that the Aphrodite children had started making to look prettier. "She's a fine girl when she's not worried about preparing for war, don't ever forget that Percy and don't ever let her go if you truly love her," he said.

"Because if she truly loves me, she won't want to let go of me either?" I asked. "You may not be as wise as your father or any of the other gods on Olympus but you do learn quickly. Soon enough, you'll be one of the wisest demigods to live on the Earth besides Annabeth and Malcolm," Gabriel answered. The firework display was a short but sweet one after we had that discussion although that was not the best part of that night.

At last, after all the celebration had been carried out and our feet could barely carry us back to any cabin, let alone our own, Annabeth and I headed for my cabin. "Besides how Malcolm will be alone tonight, I don't feel bad about what I will do next so don't make me feel bad," Annabeth told me. I assured her that I never try to do that at all and she kissed me on the forehead before leading us in. Then she turned me around and took a few steps back before doing something I'd never thought she'd do.

She unpinned her toga and let it fall to the floor, exposing her naked body to me. For a few moments, I just stood there and looked in awe at her wonderful physique. Then after those moments, "Well Seaweed Brain, are you going to come get some or not?" So this was what Gabriel was hinting at and this was what she had intended to give me after the celebration had been carried out to its fullest.

I felt the lust in me so much that I was clumsy at the job of removing my own clothes, even just taking off my shirt. Meanwhile, Annabeth had gone onto my bed and spread her legs across before telling me that she would be waiting when I finally arrived. I laughed to myself briefly and it was not just because of her saying that to me. Tell you the truth, I was _really _scared that Athena might see us and try to do something about it like punish Annabeth or transform me into some sort of monster.

No assurance from my father would overcome the doubt and insecurity I felt at the idea of making love to Annabeth. That is initially but after those initial moments of about five minutes or so, I was no longer insecure but ready for action and any action at any moment. I knew that there was some action waiting for me on my bed and I was quick to go there but slow to come around and get started. "Take your time, I'm just as scared if not more scared than you are," she said, placing a hand on my cheek while one of mine had found its way to her thigh. Then slowly, I slid down until I was laying on top of her and used my free hand to stump out the candle before we were at last united in the flesh.


End file.
